Maligore's Daughter
by mykkila09
Summary: third in the Ninjetti series, and the long awaited sequel to Return of the Ancient Ninjetti; the rangers go to Briarwood to help them with the Master, but are shocked when the Master is Maligore and they realize that the child he's after is Kim. Can they stop him from getting her? Or will they lose Kim to evil once and for all?
1. What Really Happened

**Chapter: 1: **What Really Happened  
**Setting: AU: **before and during Mystic Force  
**Story Summary: **the rangers go to Briarwood to help them with the Master, but are shocked when the Master is Maligore and they realize that the child he's after is Kim. Can they stop him from getting her? Or will they lose Kim to evil once and for all?

**Chapter Word Count: **6,804

**A/N: **this story is the sequel to _Return of the Ancient Ninjetti _which is the sequel to _Someday. _This is the third and final part of the Trilogy_. _There will be references from the previous two stories in here, so I would suggest that all new readers read _SD _and _RAN_ before reading this, otherwise, you might be a little lost. You don't have to if you don't want to, but if any questions are asked, I will not answer them...just a fair warning.

**A/N 2: **follows canon a bit, but follows my "canon" more. Anyways…enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers and all its affiliates belong to Haim Saban; no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In other words, I don't own them and I'm not making any money from this fiction.

* * *

_(Starts with the final scene in RAN)_

_One year later_

* * *

It's been almost a year since the final battle and almost a year since Kim was gone. Slowly things had gotten better; Tommy and the other ninjetti had been able to move past their grief and into acceptance. They spoke with their friends, sharing memories of Kim with those that didn't know her.

The other rangers had gone back to their own life, but they would make it a point to show up at Tommy's once every month to talk and reminisce. They had cancelled their monthly meeting for this month and had decided to meet instead on the anniversary of the day Kim disappeared. Tommy's house would be filled once more with the rangers.

Now, Tommy and the original rangers were at Hayley's preparing for the upcoming anniversary.

"Hey guys," Hayley smiled when she saw Trent, Krista and Angela J. walk in.

"Hey Hayley," they replied.

"Dr. O not here yet?" Trent asked as he looked around; he saw Jason and the other originals minus the ninjetti sitting over in the corner with Ethan, Kira and Conner.

"No," Hayley sighed sadly as she shook her head. "None of them are; I think it's hitting them hard because of the anniversary."

"Understandable," Krista nodded. "Are the others coming today or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow and later today," Hayley replied as she wiped down the counter.

"Ok," Angela J. nodded. "We'll be with them."

"I'll bring you guys some drinks," Hayley suggested as she turned to prepare them.

Trent, Krista and Angela J. made their way over to the others.

"Hey guys," Zack smiled; in the last few months, the normally upbeat and cheerful guy had turned silent and slightly serious. His smiles were no longer as infectious and playful as they used to be.

"Hey," Trent said as he took a seat. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Trini replied as she looked around. "How are you guys?"

"We're good," Krista nodded.

"That's good," Tanya smiled; she was about to say something else when she saw Conner sit up suddenly. "Conner?"

The others looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Kira looked at her boyfriend.

"I…I don't know," Conner frowned even as his hand came up to his heart absently. "I feel…restless; my Rex feels restless…fidgety…"

The others exchanged looks before looking back at him.

"I feel as if something's going to happen in the next few days," Conner said.

"Something good or bad?" Kat asked.

"I don't know," Conner shook his head. "It doesn't feel bad…at least, I don't think so."

"God please don't let it be something bad," Trini prayed. "Not on that day…"

Jason looked at his wife and squeezed her hand; he felt exactly how she did and knew that with everyone thinking on Kim, for something bad to happen on that day, would push them over the edge. They wouldn't be able to handle it.

Joey was going to say something, but was interrupted by the arrival of the ninjetti, minus Tommy, the NS team and the WF team along with Eric and Wes.

"Hey guys," Taylor called out as they walked over.

"Hey," Kat answered.

"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked as she sat down, the others following her.

"Conner says he feels like something is going to happen," Ethan answered.

"What?" the others turned to look at him.

"I just have this weird feeling," Conner explained once again. "It's like my T-Rex is—

"Restless?" Rocky cut him off.

"Fidgety?" Adam asked.

"Anxious?" Billy added.

"It's like he's anticipating something," Aisha finished.

"Yeah," Conner looked at her before looking at the others. "How did you know?"

"Because," Rocky blew out a slow breath. "We feel it too."

"We've been feeling it since yesterday," Adam picked up. "It became stronger this morning."

"And I believe it will only get stronger," Billy finished with a frown.

"Do you know why this is happening?" Wes asked.

"No," Aisha sighed. "But I wish I did; I just hope it's not something bad."

"That's what I hope as well," Trini looked at her. "I don't think I can handle it if something happens on that day."

"Neither do I," Aisha agreed.

"I don't think anyone of us will," Tori said as she leaned against Blake. Despite it being almost a year, they still weren't over what happened to Kim.

"Let's just concentrate on the upcoming anniversary," Hunter suggested.

"Great idea," Hayley said as she walked over to the group.

~…~

The next three days passed really quickly; the rest of the rangers had shown up and now everyone was at Tommy's. Melissa and James had taken the day off from their jobs and that morning, Melissa, Hayley, Trini, Angela W. and Tanya had made a huge breakfast for everyone.

The morning passed by with the rangers talking quietly amongst each other, swapping stories as they always did; Tommy had made a quick appearance, but had left soon after as he couldn't bear talking about Kim as yet.

It was now late afternoon and most everyone was sitting on the front porch and around the yard. The ninjetti were sitting on the top steps, along with Conner, Kira, Tanya, Trini and Karone; the others had started up mini games between them.

"It's getting stronger," Conner muttered as he draped an arm around Kira.

"Yeah it is," Aisha nodded.

"I wish we knew what it meant," Rocky said. "I asked Jesse and he doesn't know."

"Neither does Adrian," Adam added.

"I have a feeling we'll know soon," Billy said even as his gaze drifted to the sky.

Hayley had just come out of the house and had taken a seat next to Billy when the alarms went off. Everyone froze before looking at each other.

"What the hell?" Eric asked and that seemed to break them out of their trance as they all rushed to the basements.

"Hayley, Andros," Danny looked at the two techs. "What is it? What's going?"

"Please don't say it's something monster or something," James sighed.

"It's not," Hayley answered even as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

"It's a power source," Billy spoke up as he looked at the screen and what they were doing.

"A very powerful one," Andros added. "And from the trajectory, I'd say it's headed straight for us; it's going to land in the backyard…right about now."

The words were barely out of his mouth before everyone rushed out the room; they got to the backyard just in time to see a bright light touch down a few feet away from them. They shielded their eyes, and moved them when they light cleared, only to gasp in shock; where the light was, a person now stood there. It was a girl, and she was wearing pink shorts, tennis shoes, and a white top; her hair was done in a braid and it ended just a few inches above her butt. She turned around and everyone froze when they saw who it was.

The ninjetti was the first to react and they rushed towards her; Aisha got there first and when they embraced, she heard Lexa roar out in joy. Adam, Billy and Rocky reached them next and when they joined the hug, they too heard their own animals.

The rest of the original rangers got out of their stupor and with shouts of joy, they ran to the group; their movements drew the others out of their shock and soon enough, everyone else had rushed towards them. To their surprise, Conner got there first and he pulled the girl into a hug, sighing when he heard his T-Rex roar out in triumph. Seconds later, the other rangers joined them, resulting in a group hug with the female in the middle.

~…~

Tommy sighed as he parked his jeep between Jason's and Rocky's car; he looked around at the other vehicles, taking in each one. He had left his friends earlier as he couldn't stand to be in the room, hearing them talk about Kim; even after all this time, it still hurt.

He opened his door and got out, pausing next to his jeep to lean against the side as he shifted his gaze skyward. For the past few days, both Brennan and Dragon have been fidgety and restless…almost like they were anticipating something; the only problem was, neither animal could say what they were waiting for as they didn't know.

He sighed once more and turned to go inside when he saw the beam of light touch down in the back; he froze for a few seconds before he shot off like bullet. Moving through his house, he made his way out back only to stop when he saw his friends and parents in what looked like group hug. He took a step forward only to freeze; inside of him, he heard the screech and roar of Brennan and Drago and knew instinctively who they were hugging.

The others seemed to sense he was there because they all turned to look at him with tear filled eyes and happy smiles. They parted and he saw her and his breath caught in his throat.

"Kimberly," he breathed out and his eyes hungrily took in her appearance; from her long caramel hair, which seemed a shade darker, her clothes, her body and her eyes…her doe-brown eyes that he had missed more than anything sparkled with joy and love.

Without even noticing it, he hurried down the steps and caught her in his arms as she flew into them.

"I missed you," Kim whispered against his neck and smiled as she felt his arms tighten around her waist.

The hug went on for a few more minutes before Tommy reluctantly pulled back; his hand came up to brush the loose strands of hair from her face. "You're really here?"

"Yes," Kim nodded with a smile even as her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at the man she loved more than anything. "I'm here Tommy, I'm real and I'm never leaving you again Handsome."

"Oh Beautiful," Tommy smiled at Kim before leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss; the moment they touched, he felt their bond and connection snap back into place.

Kim felt a surge of joy as the kiss went on as she too felt the connection and bond reaffirm itself. She heard Shalimar cry out and in her mind's eye she saw her and Brennan reuniting.

They pulled back from the kiss just in time for the rest of the ninjetti to join them in a hug, each delighting in the joyous sounds of their animals reuniting.

~…~

Everyone was in the living room, with Kim, Tommy and the rest of the ninjetti, along with Conner and Kira, sitting on and around the couch while the others took up various seats around the room.

"How are you here?" Trini asked as she looked at her best friend; her eyes kept roaming over Kim's body as if trying to memorize her or catch any changes. "We thought you died."

"I did," Kim answered and she looked up at Tommy when she felt his arms tighten around her. She smiled softly and leaned up to press a kiss on his cheeks. "I'm ok."

"But then," Dustin asked. "How are you here?"

"Honestly," Kim shrugged. "I'm not even sure myself."

"What do you mean?" Melissa asked as she looked at the girl she loved as a daughter.

"When I did what I did," Kim started, capturing everyone's attention. "I had every intention of dying. I wanted to stop him and protect everyone and I knew that I'd more than likely die…I was prepared for that. When the light surrounded us, I could feel my power coursing through me, and I could also feel Nerian's own power as it tore through me as well; I have never felt such pain in my life. Not even getting my power coin stolen by Zedd and having him drain my life force hurt as much that did."

The ninjetti's eyes widened slightly while Kat gave a barely noticeable flinch and the others held sympathetic looks on their faces.

"When the light cleared, I woke up in what looked like a rainforest; it reminded me of the jungle on Phaedos actually. Everything was foggy for a bit before it cleared it up. I was terrified, so I started walking; the more I walked though, the calmer I became. I walked until I came to a small pond and when I touched it, everything around me changed. Instead of being in the jungle, I found myself in Angel Grove. I walked around and I realized it wasn't the Angel Grove that I had left but rather one from a long time ago."

"Wild Wild West?" Adam asked and everyone looked intrigued as they had remembered when they were told of that particular day over the course of the year when they were learning about each other, more specifically Kim.

"Not that far back," Kim smiled over at her bonded brother. "It was actually Angel Grove from my childhood; I was thrown back into time to when I was child. But the weird thing was, I wasn't truly experiencing it; it was like I was just a bystander watching everything that happened. It was a little strange seeing things from an outsider's perspective, but in a weird way, I enjoyed it because I was also able to see some of you guys as kids; well, the rest of the original as I grew up with Jase, Tri, Zack and Billy."

"You saw us as kids?" Rocky raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Yes," Kim laughed, "and I must say, I wasn't surprised to learn you were such an exhibitionist as a kid."

"Hey," Rocky flushed as the others laughed at him. "It was freeing."

"I bet," Kim giggled. "And I saw that you missy, didn't like ballet at all as a kid."

"I hated it," Kat admitted with a laugh "But I eventually grew to like it."

"How was it?" Mike asked, "Seeing your childhood all over again?"

"It was…hard," Kim admitted. "My childhood was…difficult to say the least and to see it all again from an outside point of view didn't change anything. The only thing it did do, was to make me wonder where I found the strength to keep going…where I found the courage to be a ranger in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked. "I mean, the others told us that they, including you, didn't want to be ranger in the first place, only Jason did and that one of your reasons was because your hair would be messed up, but hearing that statement tells me that there was more to it than that."

"There was," Kim nodded. "In all honesty, I didn't think I'd be good or strong enough to be a ranger; I didn't think I had what it took and I was afraid I would disappoint the others and Zordon if I failed at it."

"But you didn't," Zack spoke up. "You proved not only yourself, but him, wrong as well, and now, you're one of the strongest people I know and one of the most powerful rangers in this room."

"Who's him?" Taylor asked and the original rangers looked at each other.

"My Father," Kim answered. When she saw the looks on their faces, she smiled ruefully. "My dad wasn't the best father around; in fact, he wasn't around much at all and when he was…needless to say, I always felt I wasn't good enough for him and one night, he was quite indisposed when he told me so…I never forgot that."

"Kim spent most of her childhood at our houses," Trini gestured to her, Zack, Jason and Billy. "But she spent more time at Jason's though."

"What about your mom?" Max asked.

"She tried," Kim smiled. "She made me feel as if I was special, but it still made me feel as if I was the rope in a tug of war."

"That's messed up," Cole said; he couldn't really understand how that would feel as he had lost his parents when he was a baby and had spent most of his life in a jungle.

"I know," Kim shrugged, "but I was able to move on; I became a ranger, met some really good friends and the love of my life, gained another set of parents and I found a father in our mentor. My childhood and some of my teen life sucked, but they all made me who I am today. I figured that part out as I was watching the reruns of my life."

"Go figure," Trent smiled and the others laughed at the comment.

Aisha looked at Kim with a soft smile. "You do know—

"Yes I do," Kim cut her off with a smile. "And I am sorry."

"I broke down at the lake a few weeks after the battle," Aisha clarified to the others when she saw the looks of confusion on everyone's faces with the exception of the ninjetti males. "I yelled, I screamed, I cursed to hell and back before I started crying; the guys ended up out there ten minutes later and we all cried as we looked out at the water."

"So that's where you guys were that day?" Cam asked, referring to the day they had noticed the ninjetti were missing only to find them a few hours later sitting on the back porch.

"Yeah," Rocky nodded. "We didn't say anything because we wanted to keep it private and to ourselves."

"Understandable," Conner nodded, his head rubbing against Kim's knee from where he sat in front of her.

"I'm sorry to you as well," Kim looked down at him. "The bond was new and had snapped together so strongly that I knew it hurt you almost as much as it did these guys."

"It did hurt," Conner swallowed as he recalled how he felt. "I mean, I felt empty, like something was missing and I knew it was you and that you were really gone, but I knew that I couldn't let the grief keep overwhelming me as I knew you'd want us to move on…though that was very hard to do and it took a while."

"I really am sorry," Kim looked around her friends and surrogate parents.

"We know sweetie," Melissa smiled. "And I think the reason everyone, myself included, got over the anger pretty quickly was because we knew that it was just like you to do something like that. You were always willing to do anything to help and protect the ones you care about, and from what I have heard about Zordon, he meant a heck of a lot more, no offence to you guys, to you that he did the others and protecting his legacy meant a lot to you as well."

"It does," Kim said and the original rangers, Joey included, agreed.

"So what else happened?" Joey asked.

"Well," Kim looked at him before smiling. "Coming on to the end of the quest, I got some really unexpected guests."

"Who?" Tanya asked.

"Zordon, Zedd, and The Goddess," Kim smiled.

"What?" everyone was shocked.

"Explain please," Justin said.

"Well," Kim started. "It was just after I saw Aisha and the other Ninjetti breakdown…"

_Flashback_

_She sighed sadly even as a small smile made its way across her face; seeing Aisha breakdown, followed by the rest of the Ninjetti was bittersweet. She was happy that they had each other, but she was sad that she caused their pain in the first place. However, she knew that if she could do things over, she would do the same; if her dying meant Nerian was destroyed and their world—as well as Zordon's legacy—was safe, then she would do it. She was a ranger after all, one of Zordon's children, and it was what she was taught to do._

"_And I have never been more proud of you," a voice behind her spoke. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she turned slowly. One female and two male stood there; the two male looked familiar, but the female didn't. One of the males was bald-headed with baby blue eyes, and was wearing a grey robe; the other was slightly shorter with a head of dark brown hair and hazel eyes; the female was shorter than the two males and her hair was a golden colour that fell mid-back, she had green eyes that seemed to sparkle and a mischievous smile lit her face._

"_Zordon?" she called, her voice tinged with disbelief and shock._

"_Hello my crane," Zordon smiled, his blue eyes twinkling in delight._

_She said nothing as she flew into his arms; when they closed around her, she let her tears fall._

"_I've missed you so much," she whispered against his chest._

"_I know," Zordon nodded as he pulled her back to look at her. "I have missed you as well. I have missed all of my children. I am very proud of all of you, especially you young Kimberly."_

"_I'm not that young anymore," she muttered with a smile._

"_To me my crane," Zordon laughed, "you will always be young."_

"_She'll always be a pain in the ass you mean," the dark eyed man teased._

_She pulled away and looked at him, her brows furrowed as she tried to place where she knew him from._

"_You'd think after all the times I tried to kill you and your friends," the man laughed, "you'd recognize me."_

"_Zedd?" her eyes widened in disbelief and shock._

"_In the flesh," Zedd chuckled, "well, humanized is more like it."_

"_Oh my God," she breathed as she watched, "this is beyond surreal."_

"_I'd imagine," the female laughed._

"_And you would be?" she turned to her, "please don't say Rita."_

"_I am not," the female laughed. "My name is Aurora; I was the Goddess of Phaedos."_

"_You're the one who chose the first ninjetti and gave them your powers," she was beyond shocked now; she couldn't believe the Goddess was standing right in front of her._

"_Yes," Aurora nodded with a smile, "that's me."_

"_What is going on?" she asked as she looked at the three of them. "What are you guys doing here?" she paused. "Are you here to lead me or something?"_

"_You could say that," Zedd nodded. _

"_What do you mean?" she looked at the three of them. "I'm dead, so I'd assume you're leading me to the great beyond."_

"_You are dead young Kimberly," Zordon nodded, "but you of all should know that anything is possible for a ranger, especially those who possess the great power."_

"_And not only do you possess it," Aurora smiled, "you own it."_

"_Ok," she nodded, "So what does that mean for me? I mean, what's going to happen now?"_

"_Why don't we walk and talk," Zedd suggested; the scene changed from the Ninjetti to the park in Angel Grove. The four turned as one and started walking._

"_Zedd," she looked at the man. "I thought you were alive? I mean, I thought Zordon's energy wave turned you good."_

_Zedd explained to her how after Zordon's energy wave had turned him good, he and his wife Rita were ready to finally settle down; but that wasn't to be. He had died in a battle on his home planet protecting Rita._

"_I'm sorry to hear that," She touched his arm briefly._

"_It's ok," Zedd smiled, "I'm glad I did; Rita is now a paragon of good, but enough about my life; we're dealing with yours."_

"_Come young crane," Zordon directed them forward once more. "There isn't much time."_

"_Much time for what?" she asked as she looked up at the man she respected and saw as her father._

"_To decide whether or not you stay or go back," Aurora smiled._

"_What?" she stopped walking and looked at all three._

"_Kimberly," Zedd looked at her. "You are a very special person. You see the good in people, even if you shouldn't. You have been through so much in life and yet, you haven't allowed it to destroy you, instead, you have grown stronger because of it. Someone else would have given up, but you didn't."_

"_That's because I had all my friends standing with me," she replied._

"_That wasn't always the case though," Zordon said gently._

"_No," she shook her head as she thought on her friends' betrayal back in high school. _

"_And yet," Aurora said, "you forgave them. Out of everyone that has touched the power, from the first set that I chose, to the ones from Zordon's world, to those from Earth, you have suffered more than them. Out of them all, you were the only one that had the right to say no, to quit being a ranger."_

"_I couldn't," she said. "When Zordon chose us, I admit I was terrified and a part of me felt like giving up, but after we got into it, I knew I made the right choice in staying. Yes, being a ranger meant I suffered through more shit than any normal person, but it also had its positives. It's because I was a ranger that I met Zordon, a man who became a better father to me than my own. If it wasn't for being a ranger, I never would've met Aisha and the others, I never would've grown up knowing how to protect myself and how to know better, the difference between doing what is right and what is easy." She paused and smiled. "But most of all, the reason why I wouldn't have quit and I'm glad I didn't is because, if it wasn't for being a ranger, I never would've had the courage to go to Tommy when we first met._

"_I admit that the power had us through the wringer so many times, but the way I see it, going through all that, just made us even more appreciative of each other. Being a ranger taught me to not take things for granted; it taught me how to be a better person. It brought me even closer to my friends and it gave me even more. That's why I fought then, when you Zedd was in power, and again when Nerian came to us. I am a ranger; Zordon, you brought us all together and I couldn't let him destroy that. I had to protect your legacy and I knew the others felt the same. You believed in us, five teens who had no idea what they were getting themselves into, you made us believe in ourselves; you gave us the courage to do what we do."_

_She looked away briefly before looking back at the trio. "Yes, a lot of shit happened to me, and Tommy, and it's because of our ranger duties, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. If I had the chance to go back and tell my past self not to go back to the Command Centre, to not be a ranger, I wouldn't take it. It's because all the bad things that happened made me appreciate the good things and made me stronger; it made me a fighter. Without my past, my ranger past, I wouldn't be who I am today." _

"_You are an amazing woman Kimberly Hart," Aurora smiled as she stepped closer to Kim to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. "And I am glad the power chose you. You have done me and my powers proud."_

"_Everything you just said," Zedd smiled, "is the reason why you are going back."_

"_What?" she looked at him in shock and hope. _

"_Yes my young crane," Zordon reached out hold her hands. "It is not your time as yet. You and your friends have done so much good for the world and I am beyond proud of each and everyone one of you. However, you're destiny is not yet complete."_

"_What do you mean Zordon?" she asked, her brows furrowed._

"_My children," Zordon continued, "and that's what all of you are, you have one more chapter in your ranger life to go before you can finally let go. And I have no doubt that you will succeed."_

"_An old foe is going to resurface," Zedd said, causing Kim to look at him. "However, He will not be your problem until you are needed. When that time comes, an old enemy turned ally will contact you."_

"_Do you know who the foe is?" she asked._

"_We cannot say," Zordon shook his head. "What I can tell you is that, He will have a purpose; He will be looking for someone."_

"_Who?" she asked._

"_His child," Zedd picked up. "When the time comes, you will have to protect the child, defeating the foe will depend on it. If He finds the child and gets to them before you do, all hope will be lost."_

"_What's so special about this child?" she was very curious._

"_Power," Zordon explained. "The child is powerful; if He finds them before the rangers do, not only will the child be lost to evil forever, but those closest to the child will be at risk for defecting to evil as well."_

"_So find this child and protect them," she nodded slowly. _

"_Do not worry," Aurora smiled, "you are stronger than people think you are, all of you, and you will get through this." She looked up for a few seconds before smiling. "It is time."_

"_Are you ready?" Zedd asked. "You can say no, and you will stay here."_

"_But if I do," she frowned, "then whoever is going to come back, the others will fight them. I want to help."_

"_Are you sure?" Zordon asked._

"_I'm a ranger," she smiled, "one of your chosen ones; do you really think I'd let someone mess with my friends, with our family and your legacy without doing anything about it? I didn't when Nerian showed up and I'm not going to now."_

"_How silly of me to think so," Zordon smiled before drawing her into a hug. "Take care, my crane."_

"_I will Zordon," she whispered. "I love you."_

"_And I you," Zordon replied before he let her go. She was hugged by Zedd and Aurora before the three formed a circle around her._

_The trio glowed and a bright white light surrounded them before surrounding her; as she was enveloped within it, she locked gazes with Zordon and smiled. _

"_May the power protect you," Zordon whispered and then she was gone. She never saw the smiles disappear off the trio's faces to be replaced by sadness._

"_**She has a fight ahead of her, doesn't she?" Zedd asked as he looked at the two.**_

"_**Yes she does," Aurora sighed. "And I pray she truly is strong enough to fight Him. I pray He doesn't get her back."**_

"_**We have to have faith," Zordon's voice was filled with determination and worry. "We have to believe that Kimberly does have the strength to fight Him, for if she doesn't, He will reclaim her as his daughter and that will lead to the destruction of not only the rangers, but the world as well."**_

_End flashback_

Kim looked around her friends with a small smile; she knew that they were stunned by what she had just told them.

"I can't believe you met Zordon," Justin was the first to break the silence.

"Or the Goddess," Ethan added. "That must have been cool to meet them."

"It was," Kim nodded. "It was shocking too, especially meeting Zedd and Aurora, but I'm glad I did."

"I for one am glad you were able to come back," Aisha said as she reached to grab Kim's hand.

"So am I," Rocky added. "I still can't believe you saw Zordon again, or that you met both a good Zedd and the Goddess."

"Do you know what he meant?" Trini asked; her brows were furrowed as she thought on what Kim had just told them.

"From what I understand," Leo spoke up, "an old villain is going to be coming back and we're not only going to have to fight him, we're going to have to find this child of his."

"Yes but," Billy said, "it seems that it's not going to be our fight directly."

"What do you mean?" Dustin asked as he looked at him.

"Well according to Zedd," Billy explained, "another team of rangers is going to be the one directly fighting him. We won't be called until it's too much for them and our help is truly needed."

"He's right," James spoke up, "so, you guys have time to actually relax and enjoy being free of your world saving duties until that time."

"But," Adam looked around, "what about this child that we're supposed to protect? And what did they mean by, if we lose the child, those closest to it are at risk."

"I think," Kim spoke, "what they meant was, if whoever this villain is, if he gets his child to join his side, then so will the ones closest to that child."

"So we have to, not only protect the child," Danny frowned, "but we also have to figure out who their friends are and protect them too."

"That about sums it up," Zhane nodded.

"I vote that we do what Mr. Oliver said and not worry about this until it's actually time to do so," Zack spoke up. "We have Kim back and another team is going to be coming along to deal with this evil guy, so until they call us, let's just enjoy our lives."

"Sounds like a plan to me bro," Tommy nodded in agreement and soon enough, so did everyone else. The news of the villain was placed on the back burner as the group of friends decided to celebrate and enjoy their lives.

As the others started talking, Kim shifted until she was lying more comfortably on Tommy; she allowed the noises from her family to drift over her, smiling softly as the familiarity of it lulled her to sleep.

Trini, who had turned to say something to Tommy, stopped and her eyes softened when she noticed that Kim had fallen asleep. The others, noticing where her gaze was, turned to look at Kim as well and one by one, the conversations died out as everyone stared at the girl that meant so much to them.

"She's really here, isn't she?" Taylor asked as she watched Kim. "No tricks or nothing…she's really back."

"Yeah," Jason nodded, "she is. I am so glad for that."

"We all are," Melissa smiled.

Tommy tightened his arms briefly around Kim before shifting her so that he could take her in his arms. "I think I'll take her up."

"Alright," Hayley smiled.

Tommy said nothing; he stood up carefully, mindful of Kim, and headed towards the stairs.

"He's not coming back is he?" Ethan asked as he watched his former teacher go up the stairs.

"No," Conner shook his head. "And I don't blame him."

"None of us do," Carter said. "We've seen how he has been the past year. Maybe he needs this time alone with her, even though she's sleeping."

"They really are the strongest, aren't they?" Krista looked around the room. "I mean, this past year has been hard on all of us, especially them." she shook her head. "To go through everything they have…"

"They've been going through crap since high school," Zack answered. "From the moment they met, Tommy and Kim haven't had it easy. I mean, you guys have heard the stories."

"And yet," Alyssa spoke up, "they kept fighting. Despite every bad thing that kept happening to them, they found the strength to keep fighting."

"You were right Cole," Eric smiled; at Cole's, and the others, confused looks, he clarified. "After the Moon Mission when you said that he was the greatest ranger…you were right."

"Yeah well," Cole shook his head, "it's not only him anymore. She's just as great…they had to be, to go through what they did."

"I love being a ranger," Leo looked at everyone, "but I think that if I had gone through even half of what they did, I would've quit."

"No," Aisha shook her head. "Even if you had quit, you would've still fought. You would've fought because you're a ranger."

"Even if you had turned in your morpher," Rocky picked up, "you wouldn't have been able to sit around, knowing you could help, and not do anything."

"It's why we're all here now," Billy added. "You guys could've said you weren't going to fight, but you didn't. And even though you now know all the horrors that those two have been through, even though a part of you is glad it wasn't you, you will still fight."

"We're rangers," Adam smiled, "it's what we do."

The clock chimed interrupting anyone from saying anything else.

"I didn't realize so much time had passed," Kira looked at the time.

"We should all get some sleep," Melissa suggested with a smile. "It's been an exciting day."

"Yes it has," the others nodded in agreement and soon enough, everyone went to their customary sleeping places.

~…~

Tommy opened his eyes when he heard a noise; after he had brought Kim up and had changed her into a t-shirt of his, he had sat on the bed and watched her sleep, before he had given in and had joined her in the bed. He moved behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and Kim immediately shifted in her sleep closer to him. He had fallen asleep immediately after that.

The sound came again and he realized it was his bedroom door being open. Shifting, he looked towards the door and saw Aisha standing there.

"'Sha," his voice was slightly groggy. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Aisha shook her head and stepped in the room. "I just…Lexa is still a bit restless."

Tommy understood what she was saying as it was the main reason he had joined Kim in bed; Brennan and Dragon had needed the reassurance.

Looking at Kim, he eased away from her and stood from the bed. "Come on."

Aisha smiled briefly before hurrying to the bed; being careful, she moved to Kim's side and lied down.

"'Sha?" Kim opened her eyes.

"Yeah," Aisha said softly. "I had to be here."

"Ok," Kim nodded sleepily before she yawned and snuggled into her best friend. Aisha closed her arms around Kim and closed her eyes, sighing when she felt the relief that flowed through Lexa.

Tommy had just pulled on a pair of sweats over his boxers when the door shifted open again; standing there was Rocky and Adam.

"You guys too?" he shook his head as he pulled the chair near the door, closer to Kim's side of the bed.

"Yeah," Both boys nodded.

"Come on," Tommy waved them in. The two nodded and walked inside, closing the door gently behind them.

"Thanks man," Adam said softly as he moved to the bed. He moved to lay behind Aisha, placing his arm around her waist so that he was touching Kim.

Rocky smiled before he grabbed the other chair and moved it to Aisha's side. He sat down, silently thanking Tommy for having comfortable chairs, and looked at his friends. He had barely settled down when the door opened once more and Billy poked his head in; seeing the others, he smiled and came in the room, closing the door behind him.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Adam asked as he shifted against Aisha; the sleep that had eluded him in his own room was taking him over now.

"No," Billy shook his head as he climbed onto the bed, moving to lie down on the foot of the bed, but close enough to the girls where he could touch their hands. Adam, seeing him, shifted slowly from behind Aisha before he copied Billy's movements; the two were close enough to touch hands, though they didn't…the proximity was enough.

"I'm so glad she's back," Billy whispered as he looked up at Kim.

"We all are," Tommy said before he moved to the bed; being mindful of Billy's position, he lay behind Kim, placing his arm around her waist, touching the joined hands of her and Aisha.

Rocky said nothing as he mirrored Tommy's actions, also mindful of Adam's place. The moment the three boys settled on the bed, they fell asleep; somehow, even with all of them lying in the positions they were in, no one had shifted in their sleep to disturb the others and they had managed to stay touching each other.

In the morning when the others checked in on them, they all smiled and were awed when they saw the colours and the animals surrounding the ninjetti six as they reaffirmed their bond once again.

* * *

**A/N 3: **at the end of the flashback, the scene in bold means that Kim didn't hear that. I hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter.

**A/N 4: **also, this story isn't complete; I have like four chapters done. Reason why, I had three chapters written, but then I basically lost the motivation for it, so I wrote_ A Shocking Betrayal._ And that's when I realized that reading what my fans thought of the story was pure motivation, so I decided to post the first chapter and because the story is updated every two weeks, it puts me on a timeline/deadline to get a chapter out which is motivation in and of itself.

Like I said in my profile, I'm a little procrastinator (I'm working on it...honest), so the timeline/deadline really helps to kick my butt in gear. Enough rambling from me. Review so I can know what you thought of this chapter

_**Next Update: **Friday 7th September, '12._

_Kila_


	2. Life Goes On

**Chapter: 2: **Life Goes On  
**Setting: AU: **before and during Mystic Force  
**Story Summary: **the rangers go to Briarwood to help with the Master, but are shocked when they realize the Master is Maligore and that Kim is the child he's after. Will they be able to stop him or will they lose Kim to evil once and for all?

**Chapter Word Count: **8,997

**A/N: **here is the second chapter. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed this story and has it on alert/favourite. Enjoy the new chapter...

**Reviewers for last chapter: ****Falcon4Crane;****sabina21; little princess of mercury; Princesskarlita411; hopelessromanticgurl; TommyOliverMMPRFan; Young at Heart; Mika the Dark princess; hewhoreaps; Taeniaea; Tempest S; RFK22; Psychedelicpink16; LoveNLearn; guest; Jeremy Shane; mae-E; guest**

**guest: **reason why I didn't post this chapter this morning was because I had classes

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers and all its affiliates belong to Haim Saban; no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In other words, I don't own them and I'm not making any money from writing this.

**O.P.D.: **Friday 7th September, '12

* * *

_Last time on MD;_

_-Kim returned and explained what happened when she was gone_

_-the others rejoiced and revelled in Kim being with them_

* * *

The next few days, everyone spent time at Tommy's place as they wanted to spend more time with Kim, but soon enough, real life intruded and they realized—however reluctantly—that they all had jobs to go back to.

So after spending an entire day saying goodbye, most of the former rangers headed back to their own homes a week after Kim had returned. The ones who had stayed were the Space team, the Lost Galaxy team, the Dino team—only because they lived in town—and the original rangers as well as the Ninja Storm rangers as they only lived an hour away.

As it was, the friends were all meeting up at Hayley's, as usual, to spend the day just relaxing.

"Hey guys," Hayley smiled when she saw Conner, Kira, Krista and Angela walk in.

"Hey Hayles," Krista smiled at the redhead and her smile widened when she saw her boyfriend. "Hi babe."

"Hey Krista," Trent, who had a tray of drinks in his arms, paused to kiss his girlfriend, before he continued. "I'll be back."

The four walked over to the couch where Ethan was.

"Hey guys," Ethan smiled when he saw them. "Are Dr. O and the others coming?"

"Yeah," Kira answered as she sat down on Conner's lap, who had sat down in the seat across from Ethan.

"Kim had to go shopping," Conner continued, "so they'll be here sometime later."

"OK," Ethan nodded before going back to his laptop.

The others talked amongst themselves, smiling when Trent would stop by to bring them food. About fifteen minutes after Kira and the others had arrived, the males of the original rangers, the Space team, the Ninja Storm team and the Lost Galaxy team showed up.

"Hey guys," Krista smiled when she saw them.

Billy detoured off to go to his girlfriend, but the boys continued on.

"Hey," Jason answered, followed by the rest of the guys as they took seats.

"Where are the girls?" Angela asked.

"They kicked us out of our cars," Rocky laughed, "and went back to the house with Kim and Tommy to drop all the bags off."

"They should be back soon," Joey said.

"You know," Carlos looked at the teens. "I was wondering, aren't you guys supposed to be going to college?"

"Yeah," Zack looked at them.

"We are," Conner answered, "but the truth is, we're not going."

"Especially after Kim told us about the warning from Zordon," Krista added. "I mean, there's no way we can go to school knowing that another villain is going to pop up and our help will be needed."

"Yeah besides," Ethan added, "I think saving the planet from destruction is a more than valid excuse for not going to school."

"After we deal with the upcoming threat," Angela finished, "then and only then will we think about school."

"Sounds a like a plan to me," Adam nodded. "And when you think about it, it would be much easier on you guys to not be in college and then have to leave like every five minutes because of a battle. I know I hated that in high school."

"True," TJ smiled, "but then again, all the attacks when we were in high school always seemed to happen either after school or on the weekend."

"But there were rare occasions when they would happen when we were in school," Rocky said, remembering when Kim had been hit by a spell that made her fall in love with Skull and when both her and Tommy had hated each other.

"What are you guys talking about?" Aisha asked as she, the other girls and Tommy, walked over.

"Nothing much," Adam smiled at his childhood friend.

"Hmmm," Tanya smiled as she moved to sit on his lap. "Somehow, I don't believe that."

"None of us do," Kim laughed as she looked at them. Tommy brought a chair, sat down in it and pulled her on his lap.

"How was the shopping trip?" Conner asked.

"It was very enjoyable," Trini grinned. "I can't remember the last time I had so much fun."

"I can," Kat laughed. "The last time we went shopping with Kim."

"That's true," Aisha laughed.

"I never knew she could shop so much," Maya said, looking at said girl in amazement.

"I know right?" Kendrix laughed.

"I don't like shopping as much as Ashley does," Cassie said, "but I have to say, I enjoyed myself a lot."

"I enjoyed myself too," Hunter smiled.

"Of course you did," Shane narrowed his eyes and glared playfully at the crimson ranger. "You're gay; I'd be surprised if you _didn't _like shopping."

"Cam doesn't," Hunter pointed out, referring to his boyfriend.

"But Cam isn't normal," Dustin rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" Cam glared at the yellow ninja ranger.

"It's true," Dustin grinned.

"He is right," Tori laughed.

"Whatever," Cam turned his head so they wouldn't see the smile.

"Anyways," Kim smiled, "that was just the first. We have to go shopping in a few weeks."

"What for?" Blake groaned.

"'Sha's wedding…duh!" Kim rolled her eyes with a giggle.

"What?" everyone looked from Kim to Aisha.

"'Sha didn't get married because I was in Paris," Kim explained. "And when I did come home, we had to battle Nerian and then I was gone for a year."

"But now," Aisha picked up. "Kim's back and according to Zordon, Zedd and Aurora, we have a year to relax."

"So we're planning a wedding?" Kai asked.

"Yes!" all the girls answered smilingly.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked as she, Billy and Trent joined the group.

"We're planning Aisha's wedding," Alyssa said.

"It's about time," Billy nodded, causing them to laugh.

~…~

As the months passed, the preparations for Aisha and Rocky's wedding went underway. The rest of the former rangers had been told and were just as excited to help with the wedding—well, the girls—as the rest of them were.

It was now September, four months since Kim returned, and as was the norm, everyone was at Tommy and Kim's house. Tommy had explained everything that was going on to Elsa and Anton and had asked if they could get a substitute again for the upcoming school year; Elsa, understanding what was going on, had asked the previous substitute, the one that had taken over Tommy's classes the past school year, to do it again another year—she agreed. Now, with that out of the way, Tommy could concentrate fully on his ranger duties and spending time with his friends.

Today, the boys were outside, while the girls were all inside in the living room, looking through catalogues.

"The colours are red and yellow right?" Kendrix asked as she looked through a bridal magazine.

"Yep," Aisha nodded. "I still have to decide on my wedding dress. I'm not gonna wear a red one, but I don't want the traditional white one either."

"Then go for a pale yellow or a buttercup yellow dress," Kim suggested. "That's what Tri and I think."

"It'd be perfect," Kat agreed. "It's not white, but it's not a full on yellow either."

"Alright," Aisha smiled. "Let's look for that, if not, I'll see if I can get one custom made."

"You know what's going to be strange?" Dana said, "Wearing yellow."

"I know," all the pinks, and blue, said as one.

"I've worn pink all my life," Kim admitted with a smile. "Even before I became a ranger, it was my favourite colour. I've never really worn another colour, except white and green. So it will definitely be weird to be in yellow."

"Where will you have the wedding?" Taylor asked. "Is it going to be here in Reefside?"

"No," Aisha shook her head. "We're having it in Angel Grove. Even though we grew up in Stone Canyon, all the most important things of our lives happened when we moved to Angel Grove."

"And Ernie was kind enough to offer the youth centre for the reception," Kat smiled, "although, I think he would've been offended if we hadn't decided to use there."

"Rocky and I honestly couldn't think of any place better," Aisha smiled. "We've spent so much time there during high school; it was like our home away from home."

"That is true," Trini laughed. "We were at Ernie's more than we were at our own house."

"We can believe that," Cassie grinned. "Ash, me and the guys spent most of our time at Ernie's as well."

"You'd think it was our command centre," Ashley laughed.

"And Ernie was our mentor," Kat said. Her words caused everyone to dissolve into laughter.

~…~

Outside, the boys' heads jerked towards the house when they heard the laughter.

"I wonder what's going on in there," Joey mused.

"Do you really want to know?" Trent chuckled.

Joey thought about it for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nope…no, I don't want to know."

The guys laughed.

"So Rocky," Leo turned to said guy. "Are you excited about the wedding?"

Rocky didn't hesitate and he smiled as he answered. "Yeah; Aisha's it for me. I've liked her for as long as I could remember and then I fell in love with her. I can't really see myself spending my life with anyone but her."

"I think we all feel that way," Carter turned his gaze skywards. "As infuriating as the girls—

"Taylor especially," Eric interrupted with a laugh.

"As infuriating as they are," Carter smiled. "They make everything worthwhile. We know we can count on them to be our strengths."

"Hear hear," Adam chuckled.

"Shouldn't you be inside helping Aisha with the planning?" Ethan asked after they were silent for a while.

"No!" came the immediate answer from Rocky causing the boys to laugh again.

"I don't blame you for not wanting to go in there," Tommy laughed, "Especially with Kim."

"I'm dreading the day we shop for everything for the wedding," Rocky shuddered while, Tommy, Jason, Adam and Billy laughed.

"She's not bad, is she?" Blake asked.

"You remember our shopping trip," Zack shook his head, "the one we had just after she came back?"

"Yeah?" Blake nodded.

"Ok," Billy smiled, "multiply that by like ten and you'll come just about halfway of a true shopping experience with Kim."

"No," Blake's eyes opened wide in horror as did most of the other guys.

Joey fell to the ground laughing at the looks on their faces. "The looks on your faces are priceless."

"Let's join the girls," Jason said with a smile and turned to the house.

"Do we have to?" Ryan asked. "I mean, what if going in there will make her want to take another shopping trip..."

"A risk you'll have to take my man," Zack slapped his shoulder with a grin.

"Can't believe you guys are afraid of shopping with Kim," Conner laughed as he walked towards the house with them.

"Shut up Conner," the guys all said as one.

~…~

The girls looked up when they heard the door open and saw the guys walk in.

"What's up?" Ashley asked.

"Nothing," Zhane answered, "just thought we'd join you girls."

"Alright," Alyssa nodded. "Well, the colours of the wedding are yellow and red of course, which means that, the girls will be wearing yellow, while the guys will be wearing some form of red."

"The guys in the wedding party," Trini picked up, "will be wearing black tuxes with a red rose on the breast. Rocky will be wearing a red undershirt instead of white, like the guys, and will have a yellow rose on his breast."

"Sounds good," Rocky nodded. "What about the girls?"

"They will be wearing yellow dresses of course," Aisha grinned.

"Can't believe she's actually making me wear yellow," Kim grumbled. "Never wore the colour in my life."

"Their bouquets will have red and yellow roses," Aisha continued and without looking, she reached out and smacked Kim on her shoulder. "My bouquet will be red roses only."

"Hey!" Kim playfully glared at her and the others laughed.

"Kim, sweetie," Aisha turned to smile at her bonded sister. "You are wearing yellow, and you will like it."

"No," Kim crossed her arms. "I will hate it."

"You will wear it," Aisha said as she stared down her best friend. "And you will like it."

"No!" Kim shook her head, biting her lip to stop the smile that threatened to break free.

Around them, the others laughed as they watched the byplay between the two.

"Kimberly," Aisha warned, and the laughter could be heard in her voice.

Kim stuck out her tongue at the dark skinned girl, her eyes dancing with mirth.

Not saying anything, Aisha picked up the throw pillow on the couch and smacked Kim with it.

"You're wearing yellow." Aisha smacked her again. "And you're going to like it…no, you're going to love it." She smacked her repeatedly.

"Alright, alright," Kim laughed as she held up her hands in surrender. "I'm wearing yellow…"

"Good," Aisha nodded, satisfied.

"With a pink flower," Kim finished with a grin.

"Kim," Aisha narrowed her eyes before smiling, "fine, you can have something pink."

"Yay," Kim threw her arms around Aisha's neck. "I love you."

"Yeah yeah," Aisha laughed.

"You girls are something else," Danny laughed.

"We know," Rocky, Adam, Billy, Zack, Jason and Tommy said as one.

"Shut up," Aisha and Kim glared at them before breaking out into laughter, setting off the others.

"Okay," Trini said after she had gotten her laughter under control. "Back to wed—

She was cut off by an alarm.

Everyone looked at each other before hurrying down to the basement.

Hayley immediately went to the computers, followed by Cam and Andros.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"Hold on," Hayley said as her fingers flew across the keys. "It's a power spike."

"Where?" Jason asked as he looked at the computer.

"Briarwood," Andros answered.

"Bringing up the image now," Cam said and typed in a sequence. "There."

The rangers drew closer and watched the screen. They saw four teens—two girls and two guys—fighting in a woodsy area.

"Only four?" Krista asked.

"Yeah…wait a minute," Hayley started. "No, it's five."

Another guy joined the four teens already fighting. With his help, they were able to defeat the foes easily.

"So that's them," Conner said. "The new rangers." He turned to Tommy. "What do you wanna do Dr. O?"

Tommy was quiet as he looked at the teens; the girls were pink and blue, while the boys were green, yellow and red. He was quiet for a few more seconds later before he spoke. "Find out everything you can about them and who they are. We'll monitor them and how they're doing, but we won't interfere until we're called."

"Alright," Hayley nodded before turning back to the computer. As she, Andros and Cam set up everything, the others turned to each other.

"Now what?" Carter asked.

"Their battle has just begun," Tommy said. "And if they follow the same path that all our past villains have taken, they won't know who their baddie is until later on."

"He's right," Jason nodded. "Until they call us, there's nothing for us to do but to watch them and try to figure out just who their bad guy is."

"So what we're going to do is to forget about them," Kim jumped in. "And we're going to continue on with our lives until it's time for us to be back in duty. And that means, we continue with the planning of 'Sha and Rocky's wedding."

"Now that we have all that straightened out," Trini smiled, "let's go back to what we were doing. Hayley, Andros and Cam, you guys can finish that later. Just leave them to be monitored. Girls..."

The girls all smiled as they left the basement, seconds later, they were followed by the guys.

With one last look at the computers, Tommy, Andros, Hayley and Cam followed everyone else.

~…~

The following weeks found the rangers in Angel Grove. Since they already had the location for the reception, all they needed was to find a spot to have the wedding; Aisha was torn between having it outside or in a church.

The girls were spending the day at the Campbell house along with Aisha's mom, Nancy, while the boys were at Ernie's.

"So, did you figure out where you're going to have the wedding as yet?" Nancy asked her daughter.

"No," Aisha shook her head. "I'm still torn between outside and a church."

"Why not do a tent?" Kira asked. "You can have huge tent set up outside and fix everything under it; and being that you don't plan to have a lot of people at the wedding anyways, it'll be perfect."

"Great idea Kira," Kim smiled at the blonde. "We can have a white tent and we can have it in the park; that way, it's a close distance to Ernie's where we'll have the reception. We can decorate it ourselves, which would save money on hiring someone to do it."

"What do you think?" Kelsey asked Aisha.

"I think it's perfect; it's outside, but since we'll be under a tent, it'll still kinda be inside," Aisha grinned before turning to Kira. "Thanks for the idea."

"Now, that we have that down," Trini said, "where are we going to find a tent that huge?"

"I'm sure we can find some place around town," Tanya said. "And if not, we can always go up to San Francisco."

"When is the wedding going to be?" Nancy asked. "It'd be nice if you had a deadline to get everything done."

Aisha bit her lip as she thought on it. "Well, Rocky and I were thinking that we'd like to ring in the New Year's as husband and wife, so…December 31st."

"New Year's Eve," Dana cocked her head to the side with a smile. "Sounds so romantic and perfect."

"I know," Aisha smiled. "When Rocky suggested it, I fell more in love with him."

"I bet," Kim chuckled. "Ok, so we have a deadline; we have to get everything ready for December 28th."

"Why that date?" Maya asked.

"It's better to set it for a few days before the actual date," Kat explained. "That way, if something doesn't go as planned, we have the extra days to try and fix it."

"Oh," Maya nodded. "Ok, that makes sense."

~…~

Now that Aisha had decided where she wanted her wedding, the plans went smoother. They had the boys check around to find where they could buy a tent and when they realized none could be found in town, some of the girls, along with Rocky, Jason and Tommy, had decided to make the trip up to San Francisco. They had spent the whole day there, hoping to find the perfect tent and by the time they were ready to leave, they had.

Time passed; days turned into weeks and before they knew it, it was almost Thanksgiving. Despite the fact that they were still in wedding planning mode, the former rangers did keep check on the newest team. They watched their progress and would comment on the way they fought and how they interacted with each other.

"So what are we doing for Thanksgiving?" Cassie asked as she, Ashley, Tanya, Maya and Kendrix headed to the youth centre where the others were waiting.

"Well," Tanya started, "we're going to have it at Ernie's. It's the only place that can hold all of us and it is like a second home."

"Does Ernie know?" Kendrix asked.

"Ernie told us since around Halloween that we were going to have Thanksgiving at the youth centre," Tanya rolled her eyes with a smile. "Our parents jumped on the idea as it meant less cooking as all of them will be together and less of a mess as well…or something along those lines."

"They do know we're adults now, right?" Ashley smiled.

"Yes," Cassie nodded, "but are you going to tell them that so that they can make you cook?"

"On second thought," Ashley shook her head, "let them continue to think of us as kids for now and do everything."

The girls laughed.

"Thought you'd see it that way," Cassie grinned at her friend.

They walked into the youth centre and headed to where their friends were.

"Hey guys," Kat smiled when she saw them. She and the rest of the girls, with the exception of Kim, were sitting around two tables; the boys were either sparring, rope climbing, on the weights or wrestling while Kim was on the beam.

"She's good," Kendrix commented as she pulled up a chair.

"Yes she is," Aisha smiled as her gaze drifted to Kim before going back to the notebook she had in her hand. "Ok, so we have the tent, the invitations are done—which wasn't really needed as everyone that's right here is the guest list—and the food and everything are all going to be done by Ernie."

"We know the wedding is outside," Taylor said, "and that you're having it at the park, but have you talked to the Mayor as yet?"

"Why?" Trini asked. "We don't have to. All we can do is put up signs and have like police tape to keep others away."

"And even better," Aisha picked up, "the park is huge enough that we can choose a spot and have it be private."

"Ok," Alyssa nodded. "So, do you know what spot you'll choose?"

"I have an idea," Aisha said. "I'll have to go to the park tomorrow to see how it is beforehand though."

"Sounds like a plan," Kelsey smiled.

~…~

Thanksgiving passed by and soon enough Christmas was just days way and that meant that the wedding date was that much closer. However, neither bride nor groom panicked as it seemed as if everything was going good for them and after the year they had, it was much needed.

They still checked on the new rangers and admired their fighting technique which was very different from theirs as the new guys didn't even train much in the fighting department. To most of the rangers, it seemed to them as if they were relying too much on their magic to help them.

The red ranger had irritated the others reds as they had thought him too cocky and arrogant which had caused the others to laugh at them, saying he was just like they were.

Aisha had found her wedding dress as did the other girls and was in a state of excitement the weeks leading up to the wedding.

The few days passed quickly and it was now Christmas. Everyone was meeting up at Ernie's as they had done every day since they were in high school; they would give out presents at the orphanage early morning before going over to the youth centre for the dinner and party.

"Hey," Kim smiled as she opened the door to the Oliver house to see Aisha, Trini, Tanya and Kat standing on the steps.

"Cassie and the others already went over to Ernie's," Trini said as they walked in.

"Tommy and the boys are in the back," Kim said as she closed the door.

"Figured as much," Kat laughed. "I bet they're playing football."

"What else?" Kim asked dryly.

The girls laughed as they walked through the house and out to the backyard where Tommy, Jason, Zack, Joey, Rocky, Adam and Billy were.

"Hey," Jason smiled when he saw his wife and their friends.

"You guys know we're supposed to head to Ernie's to get the presents and take them to the orphanage, right?" Aisha asked as she leaned against the railing.

"Well what time is it?" Zack asked.

"A little after ten," Tanya answered. "How long have you guys been here?"

"We got here after eight," Billy said.

"Can we go?" Kim asked.

"Sure," Tommy nodded and he caught the football from Joey. "Let's go."

The friends headed back inside, closing and locking the door behind them. Tommy hurried to his room to put the football back and to change his clothes. He grabbed his keys from the dresser before making his way back downstairs.

"Thought you'd take long," Rocky teased.

"Shut up Rocky," Tommy grinned. "Let's go."

The friends headed out the house, with Tommy locking the door behind him. Within minutes, the cars were pulling away from the Oliver household and they made their way to the youth centre.

~…~

When they got there, they saw the others and their parents. They placed their gifts where the others were and said a Merry Christmas to Ernie before joining their friends.

"Nice of you guys to finally join us," Ryan teased.

"Ryan," Captain Mitchell smacked his son on the back of his head. "Behave."

"Sorry dad," Ryan grinned sheepishly before he straightened up.

"Nice to know you still got it, don't you?" Preston Scott looked at the man.

"Yes it is," Captain Mitchell nodded with a smile.

Small talk was made before the friends left the youth centre to deliver the presents, leaving their parents in the youth centre to talk amongst themselves.

"It's weird isn't it?" Soo Yung said as she looked around.

"What is?" Nathaniel asked.

"To think that our kids do what they did," Soo Yung explained with a small smile.

Mei smiled. "It is. I mean, I know Trini and my daughter is one of the calmest persons you could ever meet, so, I'm still having a hard time picturing her being a ranger."

Last year after the final battle, during one of their meetings, the parents—those who didn't know—had been told exactly what their kids had been up to ever since high school. Caroline was more than devastated when she had been told about her daughter as she hadn't seen Kim since she had left Paris just a few days before she had arrived in Reefside.

"I know," Jill nodded. "Zack has always been the dancer, the jokester and to think of him doing all that stuff in high school…"

"Well," Alicia grinned. "It does explain a lot though; them being late for curfew, falling asleep in class, the bruises."

"I still can't believe Kim is involved," Caroline said as she leaned back against Pierre. "To think, she was only fourteen when she started and that she's as powerful as they say she is…"

"It's surreal, isn't it?" Janette Grayson nodded.

"Yeah," Caroline nodded before she smiled. "But I always knew my daughter was special…I just didn't realize how special she was."

"You could imagine our shock," Veronica Johnson looked at them, "when it was revealed on TV that TJ and the others were rangers."

"And that they were leaving Earth," Gabriella Valerte spoke up. "I couldn't deal with never seeing Carlos again and I was angry at him for leaving, but now—

"Hearing what you have," Penelope smiled at the woman, "you can't help but to be proud of him. I feel the same about Katherine."

The other parents nodded in agreement, but Alicia saw the look on Caroline's face.

"What is it Carrie?" she asked, drawing the attention of the other parents.

"I remember getting the call," Caroline admitted softly. "Hearing that something had happened to Kimberly, which is one of the worst things a parent could hear about their child. I am proud of her and what she has accomplished, but to remember last year when she had sacrificed herself. It hurts to know I'd lost my daughter and I wasn't even here."

"I'm glad you weren't," Melissa spoke up. "Don't get me wrong Carrie, or any of you for that matter, but I am so glad you weren't here. Most of them I've known since we moved to Angel Grove back in '93 and I quickly grew to care about them, partly because of Tommy and partly because of getting to know them. And when James and I showed up at Tommy's last May, we got to meet and know the other former rangers and I got to care about them too. But Kimberly, she always stood out of the group for me; from the moment I met her, I knew that girl was special and I knew she was the one for my son. I got to know her and I came to love her as my daughter. When all the crap went down with that evil guy Nerian, I was beyond terrified for them...for all of them.

"And then, the final battle; watching it was like an out of body experience—you could see everything that was going on but it was like you weren't there. Watching Kim on that screen as she fought that monster was bittersweet and then, when she did what she did." Melissa paused to take a breath as her memories played across her mind. Next to her, James rubbed her arm and most of the moms all had tears in their eyes.

"I saw them fight," Melissa continued, "and I saw the decision on Kim's face and the effect it had on everybody. I watched as she gave her life to save her friends; I have never felt such agony than when I had to sit there and watch a young woman who meant so much to me do what she did. I watched as my son and his friends fall apart afterwards and the only thing that kept me from doing the same was the thought that I had to be strong for them."

"I'm glad you were there Mel," Caroline smiled at the woman. "I'm glad that my daughter had you in her corner. I know I wasn't a true mom to Kim during her teens and I regret that; I was always there for her as a kid, but her teen years, I wasn't so much."

"She never blamed you for it," Alicia said. "She knew you loved her and that no matter what, she could come to you."

"How did you handle knowing about them and not freaking out?" Adrienne Enrilé asked as she looked from Melissa to James. "I mean, we were told just a few months ago and I'm still freaking from thinking about everything that could've gone wrong."

"Trust us," James snorted. "When we first realized it, we did freak out. We considered grounding Tommy or forbidding him from doing it anymore."

"What stopped you?" Daniel Myers asked.

"I don't even really know," Melissa answered. "I remember we sat down and did a pros and cons list; we were relieved he wasn't doing drugs or anything else like that, but on the other hand, he was still placing his life in danger—as were the others."

"The more we thought about it," James picked up, "the more we realized we were very proud of him, of all of them. Here they were; six teens, who should've been worried about missing dates, doing drugs—thank God they weren't—and all other crap teens do, teens who were supposed to be selfish and more worried about doing things to help themselves, but was instead risking their life to help others."

"We couldn't blame Tommy or the others for that," Melissa continued, "or even get mad. Yes, what they were doing was dangerous, but it had such a positive influence on their lives. Because of them being rangers, Tommy found friends, the person he was meant to be with and a lot of self-control, though if you heard the stories, when it came to Kim getting hurt, he had none."

"Billy grew even more out of his shell," Nate said. "He became more outgoing, more social and more confident."

"Eric learned how to truly work with others," Michelle Myers smiled.

"Taylor finally learned to depend on others," Denise Benson said, "and she and Tori have the relationship I've always hoped they'd have." Denise had been married to Taylor's father Rob Earhardt before divorcing him when Taylor was young. She had then met Victor Hanson, and had Tori a few years later; Taylor hadn't liked that and made no move to truly get to know her stepfather or her new sibling. A few years ago, Denise and Victor had divorced and had parted amicably.

"So," Maria looked around at the other parents, "we've all agreed, despite its many risks, being a ranger was actually beneficial to our kids' lives."

"Yep," was chorused by all the parents.

"I still can't believe you've known they were rangers since they were in high school," Jill playfully scolded Melissa.

"And I can't believe you guys didn't," James chuckled. "It was so obvious."

"That's true," Ernie said as he walked up to them.

"Ernie," Penelope turned to him. "You knew?"

"Of course I did," Ernie chuckled. "Why do you think I allowed them to pull so many all-nighters here?"

The parents groaned and soon enough, the talk switched to the obvious signs they had missed. When the former rangers showed up later from delivering the presents, it was to the sight of their parents playfully arguing about each team and who was better.

"Did we step into the Twilight Zone or something?" Rocky asked quietly.

"I wish," Billy said. "That would be easier to understand."

The rangers laughed, effectively stopping the arguments and drawing confused looks from their parents which only made them laugh even harder.

~…~

It was now December 31st, the day of Rocky and Aisha's wedding.

The bridal party would be at the Campbell household while the boys were at the DeSantos household. The routine was pretty simple; they would get up early, the girls would do their hair and makeup before eating, they would then head to the park where Aisha would get dressed and they would wait for 12 noon which is when the wedding would start.

Around eight a.m., Nancy went to wake the girls before going back down to make a light breakfast. Around eight forty-five, the girls came down.

"Morning girls," Nancy smiled at them.

"Morning mom," Aisha smiled as she bounced over to her mother.

"She's just a bundle of joy, isn't she?" Trini teased and Hayley laughed.

"Oh please," Kat grinned, "like you, or Tanya, was any better on your wedding day."

"We're not talking about us though," Tanya smiled. "We're talking about 'Sha."

"Shut up," Aisha laughed before turning to Kim. "What, no comment?"

"Nope," Kim shook her head with a smile. "None at all."

"Good," Aisha grinned, "now come on, we have to go get our hair done."

"I'll see you girls at the park," Nancy smiled.

"Alright," Aisha nodded before leaving the kitchen. "Bye mom."

"Bye Mrs. Campbell," the girls shouted as they followed behind the bride-to-be.

~…~

"So what are we doing?" Trent asked.

"Watch TV," Rocky shrugged. "Unlike the girls, we don't have to do our hair or anything else. All we have to do is get dressed and show up at the park."

"Men have it easy, don't they?" Adam grinned.

"Yep," Jason laughed.

"Just make sure you have the rings," Rocky said to Adam.

"I have them," Adam nodded. "So, relax."

"Alright," Rocky smiled before he sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. "Let's relax."

The others laughed before joining him.

~…~

The morning passed by swiftly and soon enough, everyone made their way to the park. The spot they had chosen was just in front of the lake; there was enough space to hold all the seats and the tent. Red and yellow flowers decorated the area and a white cloth with red and yellow flowers lay on the ground as a carpet for the bride and her bridal party.

Aisha and the girls were in a mini tent off to the side where they would help Aisha get dressed.

"Are you ready to get dressed?" Trini asked.

"Just about," Aisha nodded.

"I'll grab the dress," Hayley said. And she went to pull Aisha's wedding dress from the bag; her and the others were already dressed, so Aisha was left.

"Ok," Aisha smiled. "Let's do this."

Carefully, the girls helped Aisha into her dress. It took them a good ten minutes, but it was worth it; when they were done, they stepped back and looked at her, tears filling their eyes.

"So?" Aisha held her hands out to her side.

"You look so beautiful," Kim smiled tearfully and said a silent prayer, eternally thankful for waterproof mascara.

"She's right," Trini nodded. "Rocky's going to be blown away."

"Good," Aisha grinned even as her own eyes filled with tears.

"Oh my," Nancy's hand flew to her mouth as she stepped into the tent and looked at the vision her daughter made. "Honey, you are such a breathtaking vision."

"Please," Aisha laughed. "You guys are going to make me cry."

"Thank God for waterproof mascara," Kat chuckled as she carefully wiped her own eyes.

"Thank God indeed," Kim said as she stepped forward and wiped Aisha's tears away. "Ok, time for the four things you need."

"This is your something old," Nancy held up a charm bracelet which held three charms; a heart, a music bar and a star. "It belonged to your great-grandmother." She placed it on Aisha's wrist before cupping her daughter's cheek. "She gave it to your grandmother on her wedding, your grandmother gave it to me on mine, and now I'm giving it to you."

"Mom," Aisha smiled. "Thank you."

"This is your something new," Hayley held up a tiara with mini yellow flowers. "All of us girls chipped in and bought it."

With Kat's help, she fixed on Aisha's head before attaching the veil to it.

"Your something borrowed," Kim stepped up to her, removing her necklace from her neck as she did so.

"Kim," Aisha looked at her best friend, "Tommy gave you that necklace."

"I know," Kim smiled. "But I want you to wear it."

Kim placed the necklace around Aisha's neck, latching the clasp before stepping back.

"Thank you," Aisha said softly as she held the necklace in her hand. The necklace had a silver chain and its pendant was of two birds, one with a tiny white stone as an eye and the other a pink stone, and across the birds were the words _'TK 4 Ever'._ Tommy had bought it for Kim back in high school after they had gotten back from Phaedos. "I'll cherish it for the short time I'm wearing it."

"I know," Kim gave her a quick hug.

"And this your something blue," Trini held up a lace garter.

"Rocky's going to flip his lid," Tanya grinned.

The girls all laughed as Kat and Kim helped Aisha put the garter on her leg.

"By the laughter, I take it you girls are ready?" Jonathan Campbell stepped into the tent and walked over to his daughter. "You look every inch a princess."

"Thanks daddy," Aisha smiled. "Ok, I'm ready."

They heard the music and the girls smiled at Aisha.

"It's time," Tanya smiled. She headed out the tent, Trini, Hayley and Kat following her as well as Nancy.

Kim grabbed Aisha's bouquet and handed it to her. "See you out there."

The girls, followed by Aisha and her father, walked over to the main tent. Tanya went first, followed by Trini, then Kat and Hayley. As each girl entered, gasps of awe and delight went up in the crowd.

Kim hung back for a second and pressed a quick kiss to Aisha's cheek before she followed the other girls.

"Ready?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes," Aisha nodded. She waited for the music before she shifted her bouquet and started walking. When she stepped inside and everyone stood, she smiled at the gasps that came from them, but her eyes became for Rocky alone as she made her way up the aisle.

~…~

As everyone was already seated when they arrived, Rocky and his groomsmen made their way to the front of the tent.

"Nervous yet?" Jason asked.

"Nope," Rocky shook his head. "Were you nervous when you were getting married?"

"Nah," Jason shook his head with a grin. "It's funny; when we were kids, Kim used to give me hell about liking her and I always denied it, but she was right. I've always like Tri, even then, and I knew I'd end up with her."

"Same here," Adam said. "I wasn't nervous at my wedding either. How could I have been when I knew I was spending the rest of my life with the one I'm meant to?"

"I won't be," Tommy smiled.

"Yeah right," Zack laughed. "Tommy, you were nervous just to ask Kim out, and you don't think you're going to be nervous on your wedding day? Please, if anyone of us is going to be nervous, it'll be you."

"Hey!" Tommy looked at him.

"I agree," Billy grinned and the boys laughed.

Before Tommy could retort, they heard the music play as the preacher gave Rocky a look.

"We're ready," Rocky said and the boys shifted into their positions; Adam, as best man was standing next to Rocky, and just a few feet away stood Tommy, next to him was Jason, then Zack and finally Billy.

The boys turned to the entrance of the tent, as did everyone else and they all gasped when they saw Tanya walk out, followed by Trini, Kat and then Hayley; all four girls were wearing a yellow, one-shoulder floor length dress with a red sash and a mini bouquet filled with red and yellow roses.

A few seconds passed and then Kim came out and everyone gasped again. She was wearing a yellow, halter top floor length dress with mini red flowers on the bottom of the dress and along the halter; her hair was in curls and held back with butterfly clips that held small pink flowers.

Tommy's breath caught in his throat as he looked at Kim; he couldn't take his eyes off of her. In a split second, he didn't see her walking down the aisle in that yellow dress but rather in a white one and it sent a heady rush of joy and love through him. As Kim drew nearer, he caught her eyes and smiled when she winked at him.

Tommy shifted his eyes from her just in time to see Aisha and her father walk down the aisle and he gasped along with everyone else. Aisha's dress was strapless with the bodice hugging her upper body before it flared it out from her waist like a princess dress; the dress was white with tiny red and yellow flowers around the border of it. Her hair was in curls, like her maid of honour and bridesmaids, but hers was up in a bun with a few curls escaping. Around her neck was a very familiar necklace and Tommy smiled when he saw it. She was beautiful. Chancing a glance at Rocky, Tommy could see that his friend was shocked speechless and tears were spilling over and running down his cheeks.

As Aisha and her father drew nearer to the front, neither she nor Rocky had taken their eyes off of each other. Finally, Jonathan and she came to a stop in front of the man she loved.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" the priest asked.

"Her mother and I do," Jonathan answered and turned to press a kiss on Aisha's cheek before placing her hand in Rocky's. "Take care of her son."

"Always," Rocky answered as he took Aisha's hand and they both turned to face the priest.

"Dearly beloved," the priest began, "we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony…"

As the wedding went on, tears were present in everyone's eyes. When it came time for the vows, Aisha was crying silently—as were all the girls—as she listened to Rocky and it was the same when she spoke.

The wedding passed by with no interruptions and soon enough, the priest's voice sounded out the words that everyone had been waiting.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You make kiss the bride."

Rocky grinned at Aisha before drawing her into his arms and claiming her lips. Cheers went up around them, but neither cared.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the priest smiled, "Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo DeSantos."

Everyone cheered once more and Rocky and Aisha finally pulled away to look at their friends and family before making their way down the aisle, the others following them.

After taking pictures in the park, the wedding group made their way to Ernie's for the reception.

Adam introduced Aisha and Rocky, and everyone smiled as the bride and groom entered the transformed youth centre; all the equipment had been moved, making the youth centre appear bigger than it normally was and tables were arranged in such a way that there was enough space for a dance floor.

Rocky and Aisha shared the first dance as husband and wife and everyone was all smiles as they looked on at the couple. It was an amazing time.

~…~

It was a few weeks since Aisha and Rocky's wedding and things had moved on; two days after the wedding, Lightspeed, Wild Force and the two Time Force rangers had all headed back to their home town, as each had jobs to do, and had been promised to be kept into the loop of what was going on. Ninja Storm had returned home as well as they were still the teachers at the rebuilt academy. As was the norm, only the Space and Lost Galaxy rangers remained.

Just five weeks after the wedding, it finally happened; they were contacted, but it was from the last person they would've expected. The call came in at a perfect timing as Rocky and Aisha had just returned from their honeymoon a few days before.

Everyone was hanging out at the café, with Trent and Hayley working, and Kim helping out, when the ninjetti rangers—and Jason, Trini, Zack and Kat—stopped what they were doing.

"Guys?" Joey looked at his friends. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Jason frowned as he answered. "I feel as if someone is calling me."

"Same here," the others echoed.

Kim turned towards the door, slowly placing the tray in her hand on the counter.

"Kim?" Hayley called out to her friend.

"I think," Kim started, her attention still on the door. "I think we should head to the house. I think something important is going to happen."

The others looked at each other before nodding. Hayley looked around and spotted Anton and Else and walked over to them.

"Hey," She started. "We—

"I know," Anton smiled at the redhead. "This is what we're here for."

"Thank you," Hayley smiled in relief.

"You know," Elsa laughed. "You should just make us partners seeing as how we spend so much time running this place for you."

"You know what?" Hayley grinned even as she started backing away. "That sounds like a perfect idea. We'll talk more. Thanks again." And then she was gone, following the others through the door.

~…~

The group walked into Tommy's house fifteen minutes later. Kim didn't even stop as she headed to the basement, so the others followed her. When they got there, Hayley, Andros, Kai and Ethan immediately sat in the chairs in front of the computers while the others stood around.

"So," Carlos asked. "Did you guys figure out what's going on?"

"No," Trini shook her head. "I don't know what it is though."

Before anyone could say anything to her a white light started building in the middle of the room. The rangers backed away and watched with slight trepidation as the light grew brighter.

When the light cleared away, a woman stood there; she had long dark hair, and Asian features. She looked around the room and smiled at the sight of the former rangers, stopping on the original nine.

"It's been a while," the woman spoke. "But it's good to see you all."

The rangers looked confused and she laughed lightly, finding delight in the fact that none of them recognized her.

"Wait, you!" Kim stepped forward. "I don't believe it!"

"Kim," Zack looked from Kim to the woman. "You know her?"

"Yeah," Kim nodded, her eyes not leaving the woman. "And so do you."

"You were always a pain in the ass Kimmie," the woman said and at her words, the original rangers took a step back in shock.

"RITA!" they all exclaimed as one.

"Hello rangers," Rita smiled.

"Who's Rita?" Kai asked.

"Rita Repulsa," Zack answered, "she was our very first villain."

"It's Mystic Mother actually," Rita grinned at the rangers. "I'm a paragon of good now."

"Who the fuck did that?!" Rocky blurted out to the amusement of Rita and slight horror of the Space, Lost Galaxy and Dino rangers.

"I have missed your moments Ricardo," Rita laughed but no one else did as they were still staring at her with suspicion.

"Rita," Tommy spoke up. "What is going on?"

"What are you doing here?" Jason asked.

Kim stared at her for a few seconds before she remembered what Zedd had told her. "You're the old enemy turned ally. You're the one Zedd was talking about!"

"Right you are," Rita nodded with a smile, before she turned serious. "Knowing how diligent you rangers were, I'm sure by now you know of the newest ranger team."

"Yes," the rangers nodded.

"Good," Rita's eyes shone with pride and the original ranger shifted a bit as they had never been encountered with such a look from her. "Now, the villain they are battling, he calls himself The Master. He is very ruthless and more evil than anyone you have ever faced."

"But according to what Kim said," Billy interrupted her, "The villain is someone we _have _faced before."

"That is true," Rita acceded, "however, he is more dangerous now than he was back then. The Master is trapped in the Underworld, which is where all villains go when they are destroyed. He however, this is the very first one to ever make it so close to the surface and still have more than enough power to command the monsters and generals that the Mystic Force rangers have been facing or hasn't yet faced."

"Whoa," Conner breathed out. "This dude sounds like bad news."

"He is," Rita nodded. "As we speak, he gains power and he will soon be able to break through the bonds that keep him secured and when he does, the first thing he will do, is to search for his child. If he finds the child and reclaims them, then he will be unstoppable."

"Zordon said the child was powerful," Tommy spoke up. "Do you have any idea who the child is or how we might find them?"

"The child is more powerful than one can imagine," Rita said. "Keeping them from The Master is the only way you will be able to defeat him."

The rangers looked at each other.

"So what now?" Kim asked.

"Now," Rita smiled at her, "now, you head out to Briarwood. Things are becoming too much for the rangers there to handle and with The Master's return so close, they will need all the help they can get."

"Alright," Tommy nodded before turning to computers. "Hayles, you guys contact the other teams to let them know what's going on and find out how soon they can get here."

"Ok," Hayley nodded as she turned to the computers.

"This is it, huh?" Zack said as he looked at the rangers.

"Yeah," Zhane nodded. "We're about to go once again into another life-altering battle."

The rangers were silent before it was broken by Kim.

"I'll call mom and let her know she'll likely be needed," Kim touched Tommy's arm before heading upstairs.

Tommy watched her go and turned back only to see that everyone was watching Kim as well.

"You're right Zhane," Trini sighed, "I just hope the outcome of this one, is different from the last one."

At her words, everyone once again turned their attention to the stairs where Kim had disappeared to; each of them thinking on their last battle and just how much they had lost even though they had won.

"I just wish we had some idea of who the child is," Leo said and the others agreed. None of them saw the flash of guilt in Rita's eyes as she looked to where Kim had gone.

"Okay," Hayley's voice drew their attention. "I just received a message from the other teams and they said they could be here by tomorrow."

"Good," Kim came down the stairs just in time to hear Hayley. "Mom said she would let the hospital know she would need some free time soon and to call us when we get everything figured out and settled."

"Sounds like a plan," Jason nodded. "Alright, we should just relax the rest of the day, because tomorrow, when the others get here, we'll brief them on the situation and then—

"And then we're heading to Briarwood," Tommy finished.

* * *

**A/N 2: **so that was chapter two. How did you guys like it? Now that you've read, review so I can know what you thought.


	3. Rangers to Rootcore

**Chapter: 3: **Rangers to Rootcore  
**Setting: AU: **before and during Mystic Force  
**Story Summary: **the rangers go to Briarwood to help with the Master, but are shocked when they realize the Master is Maligore and that Kim is the child he's after. Will they be able to stop him or will they lose Kim to evil once and for all?

**Chapter Word Count: **16,570

**A/N: **here is the third chapter. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed this story and has it on alert/favourite. Enjoy the new chapter...

**Reviewers for last chapter:  
****hopelessromanticgurl; sabina21; RFK22; Princesskarlita411; White-Falcon-06; Young at Heart21; hewhoreaps; Tempest S; Psychedelicpink16; **

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers and all its affiliates belong to Haim Saban; no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In other words, I don't own them and I'm not making any money from writing this.

**O.P.D.: **Friday 21st September, '12.

* * *

_Last time on MD;_

_-Rocky and Aisha finally get married_

_-the parents of the rangers discuss their kids' lives_

_-the newest ranger team is revealed_

_-an old friend visits and the group makes their plans_

* * *

Udonna frowned as she watched the battle through the Xenotome; they were fighting against one of their own as Nick, the red ranger, had been captured and turned evil by their enemy and now he was fighting them…or more specifically, he was fighting Lianbow.

Her eyes tracked the battle, hoping that her husband would be able to break the spell over their son; she couldn't believe that the red ranger was the son she had been looking for all these years or that the Lianbow, the man she had thought had died had actually been turned evil by their enemy and had been the one fighting them the past few months. It was a shock for everyone.

Glancing back at the book, Udonna sighed when she saw the rangers and her husband had managed to break the spell over Nick. She closed the book and headed out to meet them. She came down the stairs just as they came through the entrance.

"Is everyone ok?" Udonna asked as she came to a stop in front of the rangers.

"Yeah," Maddie nodded. "We're ok." She glanced at Nick, holding back her sigh when she saw how he stood apart from the rest of them.

"Bowen," Lianbow walked over to his son and placed his hand on his shoulder, but Nick shrugged his hand off and walked out the room.

Chip, Xander and Vida stared from him to Lianbow before they looked at Udonna.

"Do we go after him?" Chip asked.

"I'll go," Maddie volunteered and went after Nick before anyone could say anything.

~…~

Nick sighed as he looked out at the view on the balcony of Root Core. He couldn't believe what had happened a few hours ago. He had been turned evil and had almost destroyed his friends. And to top it off, he had fought with Lianbow; the man who he had found out was his biological father. _That _more than anything had thrown him for a loop.

He had spent the last few years searching for his biological parents, only to end up in Briarwood where he became a ranger. He never expected he would find his parents, but he did. He was shocked when he found out that the woman who was his mentor was actually his mother and the man he had spent the last few months fighting was actually his father.

"I always wanted to find my parents," Nick chuckled to himself. "I just never expected it would like this. I guess the saying "be careful what you wish for" is true."

"Nick?" a voice called his name and he turned around to see the blue Mystic Ranger standing there.

"Hey Maddie," He smiled at her before turning back to look out. He knew she would come to him, and he wasn't wrong; seconds later, he heard her footsteps and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her lean against the railing, her back to the forest.

"How are you holding up?" Maddie asked. She knew he was feeling guilty about what he did and said when he was evil and also confused about what he now knew.

"I feel like I've been hanging upside down, spinning backwards in a twister," Nick said as he turned to face her. He wasn't the type of person to talk so openly, but over the past few months, he had realized that when it came to Maddie, he found that opening up to her was easier than he thought.

"That doesn't sound like too much fun," Maddie nodded, her lips twitching. Hearing the laugh that escaped his lips, her smile broke free. "Do you want to talk about it?"

That was one of the things he always liked about her; she never pushed him. She would ask and would respect his decision if he didn't. He knew that he hadn't always treated her fairly; he always saw her as the girl that needed protecting, the girl that was too shy and so easy to take advantage of, which is one of the reasons he had never told her how he felt about her. From day one, he had been intrigued. She was different to other girls he had met, and that had scared him. He had had no idea what to do with the shy yet friendly brunette in blue who was always there with a smile on her beautiful face, so he had decided to do nothing.

However that had all changed when that guy had shown up at the store for her; he had been seized with an intense jealousy and had grabbed a magazine to try and hide it, but it hadn't worked. All he had wanted to do was to walk over to them and tell the guy to stay away from his girl, only the fact that she wasn't his had stopped him. He knew he would have to tell her how he felt, but he wasn't sure how to do it.

"Nick?" her voice and her hand on his arm drew him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her hand before looking up into her dark eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Maddie asked; she hated seeing people she cared about in pain and it was even worse because it was him. From the first time she saw him, she had been intrigued. She had never met another guy quite like him and going against her nature, she had been the first to talk to him. Over the last few months, they had spent time together and her feelings for him kept growing and before she had realized it, she had fallen for him. She knew she should tell him, but she was terrified of his answer and besides that, she wasn't sure how to.

"Yeah I'm sure," Nick nodded; when Maddie smiled back at him, he couldn't help but to smile in return. "So beautiful." It was whisper, or at least he thought it was, but when he saw the blush that stained Maddie's cheek, he knew she had heard him.

"Nick?" Maddie asked; she was pleased yet confused by his statement. She could feel her heart beating in her chest from the fierce hope that had seized her as the thought that he could maybe feel the same way about her that she did about him went through her mind.

He knew what she wanted to hear, but he was nervous as hell. He wanted to ask her if she felt about him the way he felt about her, but he couldn't; what came out instead was, "Why did you come after me?"

"What?" Maddie was slightly shocked and disappointed as she felt that hope leave her. _'Of course he doesn't feel the same. I don't know what I was thinking.' _"You mean just now? I came after you because you're my friend."

He nodded. "Is that all I am to you?" the question came out before he could stop it. He saw Maddie's eyes widened and felt a wild fear that he had just destroyed their friendship. _'Idiot! Why did you say that?'_ he was so busy berating himself, he almost missed her answer…almost.

"I wish you were more," Maddie whispered; she was thrown off balance by his question, as she wasn't expecting him, but she knew from the look on his face, that he hadn't intended to ask it either. She didn't even have to think to know what her answer was and it had slipped out before she realized it. She didn't expect him to hear it but he did.

"You do?" Nick felt pure hope and joy fighting to take over his body. Her answer was all the confirmation he needed that she _did_ feel the same way for him. He knew that like him, her answer had slipped out, but he was glad.

Maddie froze at his question. She shifted her eyes to look out over the forest, not willing to look into his eyes.

"Maddie," Nick stepped closer to her and moved his hand to gently grasp her chin. He tilted her face back to him. He could see the emotions running through her eyes; fear, anxiety and hope. He needed to know the truth…needed to hear it from her lips. So he asked the question he should've asked in the first place. "Do you like me? I mean, really like me, as more than a friend?"

"Yes," Maddie's eyes slipped close as the word fell from her lips. She wasn't used to placing herself out there, too afraid of rejection to do it.

"Thank God," Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "That means I can do this without worrying about you hating me."

Maddie opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion but before she could say anything, his lips covered hers. She was startled, and froze for a few seconds before she closed her eyes and responded to the kiss; it was everything she dreamed of and more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer to his body as her mouth opened to allow his probing tongue entry. The moment their tongues touched, she groaned and responded more fiercely.

Nick couldn't believe he was actually doing what he had dreamed about for months. It was everything he had ever imagined and more. The kiss went on for a few more minutes before the need for air forced them to part.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," Nick breathed out as he rested his forehead against Maddie's.

"Me too," Maddie grinned in reply.

Nick smiled and was going to say something, but Vida's voice interrupted them.

"That's V," Maddie's brows furrowed. "She sounds really frantic, like something's wrong."

"Let's go," Nick grabbed her hand in his and led them off the balcony and back inside.

~…~

"What's going on?" Maddie asked as she and Nick walked into the room to see everyone crowded around the Xenotome. "Is something happening?"

"Unfortunately," Lianbow answered as he gestured to the Xenotome. "The darkness is gathering faster than I have ever seen."

"What does that mean?" Maddie asked, her brows coming together in a puzzled look.

"It means," Daggeron said as he walked into the room. "That The Master is gaining strength very rapidly."

"What?" the teens all looked at each other before looking at their mentors.

"But how?" Clare asked as she looked to and fro each ranger's face. "And why?"

"We're not sure," Udonna answered, "We will have to keep a lookout." She looked at Daggeron and Lianbow before looking at the rangers. "We will need help."

"What?" Nick moved from Maddie to walk to his mother and mentor. "We can handle this ourselves."

"No," Daggeron shook his head, "you can't. The Master is a lot more dangerous and powerful than any villain you've faced. Even Lianbow, when he was the Dark Knight; you had trouble defeating him and the only time you had walked away from a fight was because underneath all the evil, a part of him was still Lianbow…was still good."

"The way the other villains have retreated," Lianbow spoke up, his eyes dark and serious, "especially after you were turned, can only mean one thing; they are preparing to give their powers over to help The Master returns. And when he does…"

"Rangers," Udonna looked at her son and his friends. "It is not that we do not have faith in you, but the simple truth is, as strong as you are, you will be no match for The Master. As I have told you, we had fought him before, and Lianbow had sacrificed himself, but even then, the power was only enough to seal Him away."

Udonna turned back to the Xenotome and waved her hand over it. Soon, images showed up and the rangers stepped close. "Ten years ago, a villainess had found another doorway to where the Master was sealed. Only an incredibly strong source of power could have released him and unfortunately, the villainess had unwittingly found such a person." The rangers watched the scene, gasping when they recognized the people.

"Those are rangers!" Chip exclaimed.

"Yes," Udonna nodded. "The Master was released as the villainess had used the power source to do so. Fortunately, the rangers had managed to gain control over the power source and to fight the Master, but it wasn't enough to destroy him, only reseal him."

The rangers looked at the images before looking at their mentors.

"And now he's about to be free again," Maddie sighed.

"Yes," Lianbow nodded. "I know you guys don't want to hear this, but you truly are not strong enough to face him and survive, especially since you've never fought against him."

Udonna smiled at the rangers. "You should rest and relax. With Nick now out from the evil spell, I think it will give us a few days off from attacks, especially if we are right about The Master regaining strength."

"We can't do that," Clare protested; she may not be a ranger, but she did help them out with finding solutions sometimes.

"Yes you can," Lianbow nodded. "Go and try and enjoy the short reprieve that we have."

"Do you really believe we'll get a reprieve?" Vida asked as he brows furrowed and she folded her arms. "I mean, I don't really see the bad guys giving us time off."

"We're sure," Daggeron answered. "They seemed to be more focused on helping Him gain strength and I believe that losing Nick, which meant losing the magic that Nick was sending to the Master, was a slight blow for them."

"It's fine ranger," Udonna smiled at them.

The rangers, and Clare, all looked at each other before they headed to the entrance of Root Core.

When they were gone, the three adults looked at each other.

"This is very bad," Daggeron spoke up as he looked at his two friends.

"I know," Udonna sighed as she turned back to the Xenotome. "If the Underworld does manage to get enough power to help The Master break free, then we won't be enough to stop him."

"What do you have in mind?" Lianbow looked at his wife.

"We will need help," Udonna looked at him briefly before looking back to the book. "We will need a lot of help."

"We have to contact the Mystic Mother," Daggeron said.

"I know," Udonna nodded. "But not now; let's give the situation a few more days before we contact her. If things change, then we will."

"Alright," Lianbow and Daggeron both nodded.

~…~

The rangers and Clare headed back to the record store. It was the only place they could go without worrying about being overheard, despite the fact that their boss was there most of the time.

"So what do you guys think about everything?" Chip asked as he leaned against the counter.

"I don't know," Maddie sighed. "I mean, it never really occurred to me that there was someone more evil than the villains we've faced. I know Udonna had told us that Lianbow had fought against the Master but he had only managed to seal him away."

"Yeah," Vida chimed in as she walked over to where the DJ station was, "but then this villainess comes out of nowhere and tries to bring him back only for another team to fight him again."

"And they didn't destroy him then either," Xander piped up as he dropped into his favourite chair. "They only managed to reseal him."

"What are we going to do?" Clare looked at her friends and cousin.

"I don't know," Nick frowned as he sat down in one of the chairs pulling Maddie after him. When he tugged her into his lap, the others stopped what they were doing and stared at the two in shock.

Maddie blushed under their gazes before she looked innocently at them. "What?"

"Nicholas," Vida took a step from her spin table towards her twin and the red ranger. Chip and Xander winced at the tone in her voice. "Why is Maddie sitting on your lap?"

Nick, though he wouldn't admit it even under torture, was a little terrified at the look in Vida's eyes and the tone of her voice, but all he did was smirk. "Isn't that what a girlfriend is supposed to do? Sit on her boyfriend's lap?"

"What?" everyone's eyes widened even more.

"You're dating?" Clare looked from her cousin to the blue ranger. "When did this happen?"

"Earlier today," Maddie smiled. "We talked and then we kissed."

Vida looked at her sister and saw the happiness in them before she looked back at Nick. "If you hurt her, I will kill you. And it won't be quick and painless."

Nick stared at Vida before he smiled. "I got it. Besides, I have no intention of hurting her."

"What about LeeLee?" Chip asked. "You know she has this huge crush on you."

"I know," Nick nodded as he shifted an arm to around Maddie's waist. "But she's gonna have to understand that nothing will ever come of me and her."

"Enough about that," Xander interrupted, "what about The Master and the fact that Udonna may end up calling in help?"

"I don't get why she has to," Nick grunted, "we can do this ourselves."

"I'm not too sure about that," Chip spoke up, "not that I don't think we're not strong, but guys come on, this the root of all evil, the head honcho, the guy who tells all the other bad guys what to do."

"Chip's right," Vida sighed.

"Look guys," Maddie, ever the peacemaker, spoke up, "why don't we just stop worrying about this for now? I mean, the villains haven't found a way to release The Master as yet, and they might not. So let's not worry until we have to."

The others looked at each other before they agreed.

~…~

A few days later, the rangers were hanging out at Root Core, when the crystal ball near the Xenotome started glowing.

"Something's happening," Clare said as she and the others walked over to it.

"I'll get Udonna and the others," Chip volunteered and hurried from the room. Minutes later, he returned with Udonna, Lianbow and Daggeron.

The three crowded around the ball before they looked up, a grave expression on their faces.

"It is as I suspected," Udonna spoke.

"What is it?" Nick asked his mother.

"They managed to do it," Udonna explained, "as we speak, they are feeding energy to The Master and I fear he will soon be released from his prison."

"We need to contact the Mystic Mother," Daggeron said.

"There is no need," a voice sounded behind them. Everyone turned around to see an older woman in white.

"Mystic Mother," Udonna greeted.

"Hello Udonna," Mystic Mother nodded at the white ranger, "Lianbow, Daggeron and of course, the rangers."

"Hello," the rangers echoed.

"I take it you know of what's happening," Lianbow said.

"Yes," Mystic Mother nodded, "and Udonna, you were right, you will need help but not only for the reasons you believe."

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked.

"Yes The Master is the vilest and evilest being you have ever encountered," Mystic Mother explained, "but he can still be destroyed, though it will not be easy. You see, The Master has only one thing on his mind."

"Yeah," Nick spoke up, "getting rid of us."

"I'm afraid red ranger," Mystic Mother, "that is not entirely true."

"What?" everyone, the adults included, was shocked.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"Yes the Master would love to get rid of you," Mystic Mother continued on, "but that will not be the first thing on his mind. His first thought upon being released will be to reclaim something that is lost to him and if he does reclaim this, then I'm afraid the world as you know it is over."

"What does he want to reclaim?" Maddie asked.

"His child," Mystic Mother said to the shock of everyone—Udonna, Lianbow and Daggeron included—present.

"His WHAT?!" Nick exclaimed.

"That is why you will need help," Mystic Mother said. "You cannot hope to defeat him on your own, no matter how powerful you are, and if He manages to find his child and reclaim them, all will be lost."

"What kind of help are you talking about?" Lianbow asked.

"Ranger help of course," Mystic Mother smiled.

"Sweet," Xander grinned, "we get to meet another team."

"Oh no Mr. Bly," Mystic Mother shook her head. "You won't be meeting one team…you will be meeting all the teams."

"What?" the teens looked at each other, excitement and amazement on their faces.

"Is that necessary?" Daggeron asked.

"Yes," Mystic Mother nodded. "All the rangers, from the original to the team just before you guys, will be here. They will be needed."

"When will you contact them?" Udonna asked.

"There's no need to delay," Mystic Mother said. "I will leave immediately."

With those words, she disappeared the same way she had appeared.

Everyone was silent for a few minutes before Clare broke it.

"Can you believe it?" she asked as she looked at the others. "We get to meet the rest of the rangers…all of them. I mean, it sucks that we're meeting them because of Him, but I'm excited."

"Me too," Maddie admitted with a small laugh. "I want to meet other blue rangers."

"I wonder what the previous pink rangers were like." Vida frowned. "I hope none of them are bimbos."

"Vida!" Maddie scolded her older sister as the others laughed.

"So what do we do now?" Nick asked as he looked at his parents.

"We wait," Lianbow answered.

~…~

When the Mystic Mother arrived in Reefside, at Tommy's, it was to see most of the past rangers in the basement.

"It's been a while," She spoke. "But it's good to see you all."

The rangers looked confused and she laughed lightly, finding delight in the fact that none of them recognized her.

"Wait, you!" Kim stepped forward. "I don't believe it!"

"Kim," Zack looked from Kim to her. "You know her?"

"Yeah," Kim nodded, her eyes not leaving the woman. "And so do you."

"You were always a pain in the ass Kimmie," Mystic Mother said and at her words, the original rangers took a step back in shock.

"RITA!" they all exclaimed as one.

"Hello rangers," Rita smiled.

"Who's Rita?" Kai asked.

"Rita Repulsa," Zack answered, "she was our very first villain."

"It's Mystic Mother actually," Rita grinned at the rangers. "I'm a paragon of good now."

"Who the fuck did that?!" Rocky blurted out to the amusement of Rita and slight horror of the Space, Lost Galaxy and Dino rangers.

"I have missed your moments Ricardo," Rita laughed but no one else did as they were still staring at her with suspicion.

"Rita," Tommy spoke up. "What is going on?"

"What are you doing here?" Jason asked.

Kim stared at her for a few seconds before she remembered what Zedd had told her. "You're the old enemy turned ally. You're the one Zedd was talking about!"

"Right you are," Rita nodded with a smile, before she turned serious. "Knowing how diligent you rangers were, I'm sure by now you know of the newest ranger team."

"Yes," the rangers nodded.

"Good," Rita's eyes shone with pride and the original ranger shifted a bit as they had never been encountered with such a look from her. "Now, the villain they are battling, he calls himself The Master. He is very ruthless and more evil than anyone you have ever faced."

"But according to what Kim said," Billy interrupted her, "The villain is someone we _have _faced before."

"That is true," Rita acceded, "however, he is more dangerous now than he was back then. The Master is trapped in the Underworld, which is where all villains go when they are destroyed. He however, is the very first one to ever make it so close to the surface and still have more than enough power to command the monsters and generals that the Mystic Force rangers have been facing or hasn't yet faced."

"Whoa," Conner breathed out. "This dude sounds like bad news."

"He is," Rita nodded. "As we speak, he gains power and he will soon be able to break through the bonds that keep him secured and when he does, the first thing he will do, is to search for his child. If he finds the child and reclaims them, then he will be unstoppable."

"Zordon said the child was powerful," Tommy spoke up. "Do you have any idea who the child is or how we might find them?"

"The child is more powerful than one can imagine," Rita said. "Keeping them from The Master is the only way you will be able to defeat him."

The rangers looked at each other.

"So what now?" Kim asked.

"Now," Rita smiled at her, "now, you head out to Briarwood. Things are becoming too much for the rangers there to handle and with The Master's return so close, they will need all the help they can get."

"Alright," Tommy nodded before turning to computers. "Hayles, you guys contact the other teams to let them know what's going on and find out how soon they can get here."

"Ok," Hayley nodded.

"This is it, huh?" Zack said as he looked at the rangers.

"Yeah," Zhane nodded. "We're about go once again into another life-altering battle."

The rangers were silent before it was broken by Kim.

"I'll call mom and let her know she'll likely be needed," Kim touched Tommy's arm before heading upstairs.

Tommy watched her go and turned back only to see that everyone was watching Kim as well.

"You're right Zhane," Trini sighed, "I just hope the outcome of this one, is different from the last one."

At her words, everyone once again turned their attention to the stairs where Kim had disappeared to; each of them thinking on their last battle and just how much they had lost even though they had won.

"I just wish we had some idea of who the child is," Leo said and the others agreed. None of them saw the flash of guilt in Rita's eyes as she looked to where Kim had gone.

"Okay," Hayley's voice drew their attention. "I just received a message from the other teams and they said they could be here by tomorrow."

"Good," Kim came down the stairs just in time to hear Hayley. "Mom said she would let the hospital know she would need some free time soon and to call us when we get everything figured out and settled."

"Sounds like a plan," Jason nodded. "Alright, we should just relax the rest of the day, because tomorrow, when the others get here, we'll brief them on the situation and then—

"And then we're heading to Briarwood," Tommy finished.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds before Rita spoke, breaking the silence.

"So," Rita smiled at rangers, secretly delighting in the weird look on the originals' faces. "How have you been rangers?"

When everyone continued staring at her for a few minutes, Kim rolled her eyes.

"You know you're only freaking them out right?" Kim smiled.

"Yes," Rita laughed. "But it's so much fun."

"I'm in the Twilight Zone," Adam shook his head. "Or I hit my head and I'm in the hospital and I'm dying."

"I'm dreaming," Rocky shrugged. "That's all the explanation I need."

The rangers looked at each other before they all laughed.

"You're not dreaming Rocky," Kim giggled, "and you're right here Adam. Now come on, the others won't be here till tomorrow anyways, so why don't we do what Jase said and go outside and relax?"

"Alright," Andros nodded and he got up from his seat and made his way to the stairs with the others following.

~…~

"So Rit—Mystic Mother," Jason started.

"Rita's fine," Rita told him.

"Rita," Jason continued, "what have you been up to since…" he trailed off.

"Since I was turned good by Zordon's energy wave?" Rita glanced at him, "or since I became Mystic Mother?"

"Since you became Mystic Mother," Billy clarified.

"I've been helping the council keep a watch over the Magical Realm," Rita explained.

"Council?" Trini asked.

"Magical realm?" TJ had a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes," Rita nodded, "there are other power sources. And Magic is one of them."

"Magic?" the rangers looked at each other.

"How did you think the Mystic Force rangers got their powers?" Rita raised an amused eyebrow. "They got them through magic. The rangers reside in the Magical Realm and there is a council that oversees the use of magic there. If you are not worthy, or you don't believe, they won't grant you the magic or help you at all."

"Could you tell us more about this Magical Realm and about the villain that we have to fight?" Billy asked.

"Of course," Rita nodded. And so, she told them how she came to be Mystic Mother, about the council, the Realm and its good and bad, the Master…everything.

The rangers spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the woman who had once been their biggest villain.

~…~

The next day, the rest of the former rangers showed up and were brought up to speed on what was going on. Right now, all the rangers were in Tommy's basement.

"So," Carter looked around. "We're all up to speed now?"

"Yes," Wes nodded. "When do you guys want to leave?"

"I would suggest as soon as possible," Rita spoke up. "The Master is soon to be released."

"Alright then," Jason nodded and looked around at all the past teams. Every time the rangers came together, he was in awe at how big Zordon's legacy had grown. He felt a touch on his arm and looked down into Kim's brown eyes. The two shared smiles before they turned back to the others.

"Let's do this," Kim's voice was filled with determination and the others felt themselves unconsciously straightening up.

"How are we going to get there?" Trini asked. "Do we teleport? Do we let Rita take us?"

"I say we show up like we normally do," Rocky shrugged. "We drive."

"Or," Kim looked over to where Andros and Leo were standing. "We can fly."

"What?" Trent looked at her in confusion as did some of the others.

"Andy, how big is DECA?" Kim asked.

Andros' brows furrowed as he mentally went over DECA's weight capacity and space before he looked at Kim. "This DECA is a lot bigger than the one we had when we were fighting Astronema and them."

"So," Kim glanced around the room before resting her gaze on him. "She can hold all of us, right?"

"Yeah," Andros nodded.

"Sweet," Ethan clapped his hands. "We get to ride in a spaceship."

The others became excited and Kim laughed.

"Let's go," Andros said and he turned to leave the basement, the others following.

As the rangers left, Rita stood watching them and couldn't help but to be filled with pride.

'_Be proud of them Zordon,' _she thought, _'for they are every bit the rangers you knew they'd be.'_

Shaking her head, she followed the rangers out of the basement. She got up stairs just in time to see the others walking to the back and walked with them.

All the rangers crowded outside and Andros deactivated the cloaking shield around DECA and opened the hatch, releasing the ramp.

"Alright," the NS and DT teens cheered and hurried up the ramp and inside.

The older rangers shook their heads and chuckled.

"I'll go back to Rootcore and let the others know you're on your way," Rita said.

"Alright," Aisha nodded, "We'll see you there."

Rita nodded and disappeared the same way she had appeared.

"Let's go before they get too excited and touch what they're not supposed to," Karone said as she looked at her brother and the others before heading up the ramp, the others following after her.

~…~

Rita reappeared in Rootcore, startling the rangers.

"So?" Nick was a bit impatient as he looked at the Mystic Mother.

"Patience red ranger," Rita laughed; he reminded her so much of the other red rangers. She knew that when he met Kim though, he would need to change his attitude. "They are on their way."

"They'll help?" Chip asked.

"Of course they will," Vida spoke up, "they're rangers."

"So when will they get here?" Xander asked as he leaned against the table that held the Xenotome.

"Soon," Rita answered.

"Sweet," Chip grinned, excited at meeting the former rangers.

~…~

Down in the Underworld, Necrolai and the rest of the villains stood in a circle around a hole; at the bottom of that hole was the lava prison of their leader, the Master of the Underworld.

"Soon," Necrolai, a female vampire, cooed as she looked down into the pit. "Our Master shall be released and he shall wreak havoc on the world and destroy those pitiful rangers!"

The Underworld cheered at her words and they continued to pour their magic to their leader, feeding him.

Inside the pit, the being known as the Master, opened an eye and looked to where his followers were; he could feel the power they were sending to him and he eagerly accepted it, wanting to break free from his prison. He was going to destroy the rangers and claim the Upper world as his own, but he knew there was something he needed to do first. There was someone he had to find; his child.

Years ago he had claimed her, but because of the rangers, he had lost her. But he was determined to find her and reclaim her and when he did, he wasn't going to let her go again and together, they would rule the world.

For now, he would take the energy from his followers and rebuild his own. And then…it's the end of the rangers.

~…~

Kim stood on one of the balconies on DECA; it was inside the ship, but designed like a convertible, meaning you could retract the covering. Since they were not in space, Andros had retracted the covering. The ship was under a cloaking device so it wouldn't be picked up or seen by anyone.

Leaning against the railing, Kim couldn't help but to smile at the view below her. It always amazed her to see the towns from above like this.

"Hey," she heard before she felt arms wrap around her waist. She automatically leaned back and relaxed her body into his. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Kim nodded. "Just admiring the view and thinking."

"What about?" Tommy asked.

"Everything, I guess," Kim shifted a bit to look up at her boyfriend. "I keep having this feeling."

"Like something bad is going to happen?" Tommy looked down at her. "Or that this battle means something completely different for us?"

"Both," Kim sighed and turned completely in his arms. "I keep replaying Zordon and the others' words in my head. How are we supposed to find this child and protect them when we have no clue who they are?"

"I've been asking myself that same question," Tommy admitted. He pressed a kiss to Kim's forehead before pulling back to look at her. "I really don't know how we're going to do it. All I know is that someone we've faced before is coming back and we have to help these new rangers fight them off."

"And fight we will," Kim sighed again before she smiled at him. "Is it weird to say that despite everything that has happened since we became rangers and everything that we're about to go through, I'm still excited about it?"

"No," Tommy chuckled. "Remember how Zack acted just after Joey helped them get their powers back? He was even more excited than when he was a ranger the first time."

"I know," Kim giggled. "If I remember right, your kids looked at him like he was nuts."

Tommy threw his head back and laughed. "He is, but that's beside the point."

Kim's smile died and she looked away.

"Hey," Tommy gently grabbed her chin and turned her head to look at him. "What is it?"

"I'm scared," Kim admitted as she looked up into his dark eyes. "I mean, really scared. From the way Zordon, Zedd, the Goddess and Rita spoke, this villain seems to be the worst of them all, even more so than Nerian."

"I'm scared too," Tommy hugged her to him. "But we can't let our fear stop us. We didn't when we faced Nerian and we won't now. As far as I'm concerned, the battle with Nerian was the worst ever." He was referring to her death and he squeezed her a bit tighter. "I have faith that we will get through this battle…all of us."

~…~

Aisha was talking to Ashley and Taylor when she felt Lexa become slightly agitated. She focused on her animal and realized that Lexa was worried about Kim. She looked around, her eyes searching for her best friend, and she spotted her standing on the balcony in Tommy's arms.

"You ok Aisha?" Ashley's concerned voice drew her attention back to the two yellows.

"Yeah," Aisha smiled at her, "I'm ok. I just—could you excuse me for a second? I'll be right back."

"Alright," Taylor nodded.

Aisha smiled at the two girls and walked off, completely missing the concerned looks they exchanged.

The yellow ninjetti bypassed the others and made her way to her two teammates.

"Hey guys," Aisha greeted as she walked up to Kim and Tommy.

"Hey Sha," Kim pulled slightly out of her boyfriend's arms to look at her spirit sister. "Is everything ok?"

"I should ask you that," Aisha's gaze turned concerned. "Lexa was agitated. Is something wrong? Are you ok?"

Tommy and Kim exchanged amused glances and Tommy let go of his girlfriend and leaned against the railing so that Kim could go to Aisha.

"I'm ok," Kim smiled as she gave Aisha a quick hug.

"You're sure?" Aisha held on to her friend and looked her. "Spill Kim."

"Fine," Kim sighed; Aisha knew her better than anyone save Tommy. "Truthfully, I'm scared about this villain that we're about to face. From what I was told, he seems to be more dangerous than anyone else we've ever faced…including Nerian."

Aisha closed her eyes briefly before opening them. "Facing Nerian was hard, but losing you was one of—if not the worst—things I've ever experienced in my life." She squeezed Kim's and smiled at her. "I have no intention, and I'm sure Tommy doesn't either, of letting something like that happen again." She shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, this villain could be really bad, but Nerian has already put us through the worst thing a villain can." She had—unknowingly—echoed Tommy's earlier words to Kim.

"She's right Beautiful," Tommy smiled at the two girls.

"So I need to stop worrying so much then?" Kim smiled sheepishly between the two.

"No," Aisha laughed, "You don't have to stop worrying, but don't let it your worry or your fear rule you. Remember what you told Joey when he wanted to stop us from going back to Phaedos? We're rangers, and despite the danger, we will fight. To defend our lives and our planet and to protect Zordon's legacy, we'll fight because it's what we do."

"Alright fine," Kim rolled her eyes with a giggle. "But if anything really out of the way happens, I reserve the right to say I told you so."

"Deal," Tommy laughed.

"Hey guys." The three turned and saw Rocky, Billy, Adam, Kira and Conner standing there.

"Hey," Kim smiled at them. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Conner smiled as he and Kira walked over to stand next to Kim. "Rex was a little agitated but then he calmed down."

"I'm fine," Kim smiled at him, "just some pre-fight jitters."

"Understandable," Kira nodded. "You know, even after everything we've been through and seen, I never once thought that magic was real."

"I know!" Rocky agreed and the others laughed.

~…~

"Where are Kim and the others?" Trini asked as she walked back into the room. She had been in the exercise room with Jason and some of the other guys.

"Out on the balcony," Taylor answered as she pointed to where the ninjetti, Conner and Kira were.

Trini smiled her thanks and headed to where her friends were. The others exchanged glances and pretty much everyone soon followed the original yellow.

~…~

"So this is where the party's at?" Jason teased as he and the others came out on the balcony.

"What party?" Rocky looked around.

"He's teasing Rocky," Kim shook her head with a laugh.

"I knew that," Rocky grinned at her.

"Sure you did," Adam teased.

Everyone laughed at the indignant look on Rocky's face and Kim relaxed, putting her worry out of her mind, deciding to focus on having fun with her friends for as long as she could.

~…~

At Rootcore, the rangers and Rita were scattered all over the place as they waited for the former rangers to show. Udonna, Lianbow, Daggeron and Rita were in the main room while the rangers and Claire were in another room, sitting on the couches.

"When are they going to get here?" Claire asked. "I really want to meet other rangers."

"I still don't see why they need to come," Nick groused. "We don't need their help."

"Nick," Maddie elbowed her boyfriend, "stop being so stubborn. We do need their help. Udonna and the others said so."

"She's right," Vida spoke up. "I for one don't want to fight this guy who's so bad not even your father could defeat him and Lianbow is pretty powerful."

"Vida and Maddie are right," Xander said as he leaned back in his chair. "Besides, I want them to come." He grinned, "I wonder how the females look?"

Vida glowered at the green ranger, her gaze filled with anger and jealousy. So, she snapped at him. "As if any of them will go for you!"

"Why Vida," Xander smirked at her, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous."

"As if," Vida scoffed, though there was a faint and barely there blush on her cheeks. "It's a good thing you know better."

Chip laughed at the two of them; he knew Vida and knew that the pink ranger had feelings for Xander, but Vida would never admit to them. It'll take a miracle for her to do it.

The beeping of their cell phones stopped any more comments from being made. The rangers grabbed them from their pockets and flipped them open.

"It's a message from Udonna," Chip said, his voice becoming excited. "She said the rangers will be here soon."

"Let's go," Nick stood up, pulling Maddie with him.

The rest got up and followed him out the room towards the main room.

"So where are they?" Nick asked as he walked into the room.

Rita glanced at him and shook her head. "If I were you red ranger, I'd check that attitude of yours. Neither Kimberly nor the others will stand for it."

"Who's Kimberly?" Claire asked.

"She's the original pink ranger," Rita answered.

"Please," Nick chuckled, "she's a pink. No offence to Vida, but she's probably a girly girl."

Rita laughed and turned away. _'Let him believe that. He'll be in for a very rude awakening if he takes that attitude with Kim.'_

The sound of engines echoed throughout the room.

"What is that?" Xander asked.

"That's the rangers," Rita answered, "they came by ship."

"Cool," Chip grinned.

"Let's go meet them," Lianbow said and everyone moved towards the entrance for Rootcore.

When they got outside, they saw a spaceship heading towards them. Udonna used her wand to clear away a space big enough for the ship to land. The closer it got, the more excited everyone—minus Nick of course—became.

The ship landed and they waited until it had settled before they started towards it. They saw the ramp come down and they waited for the rangers to appear.

~…~

"How soon are we to Rootcore?" Zhane asked his friend. He and Andros had left the others on the balcony and had come in to check their progress.

"We're actually over Briarwood right now," Andros answered as he sat down in front of the main console. "We should be reaching Rootcore in about ten minutes."

"Alright," Zhane nodded. "I'll let the others know."

He squeezed Andros' shoulder before he turned around and headed back to where the others were. "Hey guys, Andros said we're actually over Briarwood right now, so we'll be at Rootcore soon."

"Thank God," Alyssa sighed. "I just really want us to get this over and done with."

"Amen to that," Max nodded in agreement.

"What do you guys think the rangers are like?" Tanya asked as she leaned against Adam.

"Hopefully the red ranger will be different from ours," Kat grinned.

"I know right?" Cassie laughed as did the rest of the girls.

"HEY!" all the red rangers mock glared at the girls.

"I really hope he doesn't have the red attitude," Kim said with a smile.

"If he does," Trini grinned, "we'll let you straighten him out."

"Why not a yellow?" Kim looked at her childhood friend.

Everyone turned as one to look at Kim.

"Seriously Kim?" Kai shook his head. "Everyone knows you're the one female ranger you're not supposed to piss off."

"Yeah sis," Jason smirked. "You might be the ultimate pink, but that just makes it worse."

"Jase is right," Zack bounced on his feet. "Trini might be the calmest yellow, but even she is quick to anger. You on the other hand, it takes a while for your fuse to be lit and when it is…"

"…everyone should watch out," Billy picked up with a smile, "because when you blow, it's explosive."

"I'm not that bad," Kim laughed and shook her head. She knew that all of them felt that way, but she never really paid any attention to it. Sure she had a temper, but who didn't?

The others exchanged amused glances but didn't say anything.

"Guys," Andros' voice echoed throughout the ship. "We're here; setting down…now."

The others looked at each other before moving inside. When the ship settled on the ground, they all moved to the entrance.

"Here we go," Maya muttered as Andros lowered the ramp. They could hear the excited chatter from the newest team and some of them couldn't help but to grin. One last glance at each other and the former rangers filed out of DECA.

They saw six teens and four adults, Mystic Mother included.

"Hi," Chip bounced up to them. "I'm Chip and this—

"Chip," Vida cut her childhood friend off. "Let's wait until they're settled before we overwhelm them."

"You're right," Chip nodded.

"So," Jason stepped forward. "Where do we go?"

"Follow me," Udonna said as she turned to head back inside, the others following her.

As the former rangers walked after them, their gazes drifted around the place.

"Nice," Wes grinned.

"I like it," most of the girls echoed as one and the others laughed.

~…~

Udonna had used magic to enlarge the room enough that everyone could fit and now, all the rangers—former and current—sat around the room.

"How about some introductions?" Rita suggested.

"That's a good idea," Daggeron said before he turned to the room. "My name is Daggeron and I'm Solaris Knight."

"Lianbow," Lianbow went next. "I was once a Mystic Ranger before I was sealed with the Master. I was then turned evil and was known as Koragg, the Knight Wolf."

The former rangers exchanged looks, but said nothing.

"My name is Udonna," the red haired witch spoke. "I'm the White Mystic Force ranger and also mentor for the rangers. My power is control over snow."

"Vida Rocca," Vida nodded, "I'm the pink Mystic Force ranger. I have power over wind."

The pinks smiled over at the short haired witch.

"Chip Thorn," Chip smiled, "I'm the yellow Mystic Force ranger and my power is lightening."

All the yellow females groaned while Dustin cheered. Chip looked confused, but was waved by one of the girls saying they'd explain later.

"Xander Bly," he winked at the girls. "Green Mystic Force ranger and my power is control over earth."

"I'm Claire," said girl giggled a bit, "I'm Udonna's niece."

"Is it me," Kira said as she looked from Claire to Krista, "or does she look a lot like Krista?"

"It's not just you," Krista said as she walked over to stand in front of Claire. When she did, the Mystic team stared at the two girls, as did the former.

"Wow," Claire breathed as she stared into mirror version of her face; only difference being, Krista's make-up was a little darker than hers and her hair was a reddish colour while Clair's was blond. "Unbelievable."

"I know right?" Krista nodded and then she smiled. "I'm Krista."

"Nice to meet you," Claire grinned as she shook the girl's hand.

"And the rest of you are?" Ethan said as he looked at the other Mystic rangers.

"Maddie Rocca," Maddie smiled shyly. "I'm the Blue Mystic Force ranger and I control water."

Nick had a scowl on his face that had the former rangers raising an eyebrow at him. Maddie elbowed her boyfriend. "Nick Russell, Red Mystic Force ranger and I control fire."

The former rangers introduced themselves, starting with the DT rangers and ending with the original rangers.

"I can't believe we're sitting in front of all the former rangers," Chip grinned.

"You realize this isn't really a social visit?" Vida smirked at her friend.

"I know," Chip nodded, "but still."

"Rita explained to us what's going on," Billy spoke up drawing everyone's attention.

"Rita?" the Mystic rangers looked confused.

"Mystic Mother," Tommy nodded to where Rita was sitting. "We knew her as Rita before she became Mystic Mother."

"So are you going to help us?" Maddie asked.

"That's what we're here for," Trini smiled. "What do you guys know about the Master? How far is he in being totally regenerated?"

"We're not sure," Udonna replied, "though I suspect it will be soon that we will see his presence. His minions in the Underworld are feeding their energy into him to revive him."

"Alright," Jason nodded, "well, since we're not sure when this guy is going to show his face, what do you guys think we should do?"

The former rangers looked at each other.

"Why don't we do what we did last time?" Dustin spoke up, "we could do those training sessions again."

"What training sessions?" Vida asked. "And what last time?"

"Two years ago," Conner started, "when we had just finished destroying our own villain, we had to fight again."

"A villain called Nerian," Joey picked up, "came to this world to destroy the rangers and we all came together to fight him. It was tough battle, but we managed to destroy him."

"Nerian?" Udonna straightened up and Lianbow and Daggeron looked at the former rangers.

"I take it from the looks on your faces that you've heard of him," TJ said dryly.

"We have," Lianbow nodded. "He was one of the original ninjetti, but he had been destroyed by his former teammates after he turned on them."

"Well," Rocky said, "he found a way to come back."

"And you destroyed him?" Daggeron asked.

"Yes," Kim answered. "We did."

The others exchanged looks; they knew that truthfully, in the end it was Kim alone that had destroyed him, but they didn't say anything to contradict her words.

"Back to the training," Vida said, "what kind of training are we talking about?"

"Hand-to-hand combat," Tommy explained, "how to use your powers—

"We already know how to use our powers," Nick interrupted, "we don't need to learn that and I don't see why we need any training at all."

The former rangers glared at him while the Mystic rangers looked at him in shock and disbelief. They couldn't believe he was so rude.

"Oh really?" Trini looked him up and down. _'This red ranger is going to be trouble. He needs to be knocked down a peg or two.' _"What if your magic doesn't work? What if you're in an area that blocks you from using your magic? Then what?"

"What if you can't cast any spells because you've been hit with a substance that takes your speech?" Billy continued. "What if you were caught off guard and you were forced to defend yourself using only your hand or your body as a weapon?"

"In case you haven't gotten it because your ego and your pig-headedness are stopping you," Kim said which caused the others to chuckle and Nick to glare darkly. "What they're getting at is, you need to learn the hand-to-hand combat because more often than not, the bad guys end up getting too close and the situation calls for it. We learned that from the first time we, meaning Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, Tommy and I, first became rangers. Our bad guys didn't care if we had weapons. If they were able to disarm us, they fought us."

"And all of us who came after," Shane continued, "learned that lesson as well."

"And as for the training of your powers," Tommy said, "what we mean is that you have to learn to use your powers around the others, that way, if you're in the middle of a battle, the others won't be distracted or unable to fight."

"Finally," Jason finished, "the training session will teach you how to fight alongside members of another team because in a battle, you often end up with other rangers and not just your own teammates."

"So you guys did all that?" Maddie asked as she squeezed Nick's hand, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah," Trent nodded, "and it worked. We not only learned how to fully utilize our powers, but we bettered ourselves as fighters as well."

"Well I'm in," Vida said. "It will benefit us more to do this, so I want to."

"Me too," Chip grinned. "It'll be cool to learn how to fight without our ranger powers."

"Whatever," Nick grumbled and looked away.

Kim narrowed her eyes at him, making a point to speak with the red ranger sometime soon.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Daggeron said, "so when do you guys want to begin?"

"No better time than now," Eric said.

"Before we begin though," Tommy interrupted. "I need to get my parents."

"Why?" Maddie asked.

"Mom is a doctor," Kim answered. "And dad will want to be here."

"Your parents know you're rangers?" Xander asked, looking from ranger to ranger.

"They found out just after we battled Nerian," Aisha said.

"I'll get them," Rita volunteered. "Where will they be?"

"I can call and have them be at my place soon," Tommy suggested as he stood up from his seat and walked out the room, pulling out his cell phone as he did so. Minutes later, he walked back in. "They're going to be at my house in twenty minutes."

"Very well," Rita nodded, "I will get them then."

"We should get started on the training," Tommy turned to the room. "We don't know how long it's going to take this Master to regain his power, so better safe than sorry. We'll start now and keep training until this guy presents himself to us."

"Sounds like sound plan to me," Daggeron smiled.

"Good," Tommy nodded. "Let's get started."

~...~

All the rangers were standing outside in a clearing just a short distance from Rootcore. The former rangers were standing together, with the Mystic Force rangers standing opposite to them.

"So what now?" Xander asked as he looked around.

"Split up," Tommy told him, "we're going to spar and you cannot choose a member of your team."

"I'm not sparring with Kim," Eric said immediately causing the former rangers to laugh while the Mystic Force looked on in confusion.

"Me either," Rocky called out next.

"Nope," Carter, Wes and Mike shook their heads as well.

"Hey!" Kim placed her hands on her hips and looked over at them. "What's wrong with sparring with me?"

Eric raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, silently daring her to remember their last sparring session.

"Is she that bad?" Maddie asked looking from Kim to the others.

"That's just it," Carter grinned, "she's that good. This guy here," he pointed to Tommy, "taught her how to fight and she's amazing. She sparred with Eric last time and he hit the floor every time."

Vida, as well as the others, turned shocked eyes towards Kim. "You could do that? No offence, but you don't look like it."

"None taken," Kim laughed.

Nick rolled his eyes and looked away, the action, noticed by most of the former rangers.

"So," Maddie cleared her throat and spoke up. "Do we just choose someone to...spar with?"

"Pretty much," Krista nodded. "It really is helpful."

"I'm in," Vida grinned.

"Alright guys," Tommy looked around at everyone, "you remember how we did last time, so it's the same. Split up and choose a partner. If you sparred with them last time, choose someone else this time."

Kim stood off to the side and watched as everyone paired off; she wasn't concerned about the others because she had already seen them, what she was more interested in was the Mystic Force rangers. She noticed that Vida was paired off with Kira, Maddie with Shane, Xander with Carlos and Chip with Joey. She frowned when she saw that Nick wasn't sparring and was standing by himself. Even Udonna and Daggeron were sparring; they were with Jason and Carter respectively. She watched as Lianbow walked over to the red ranger to talk to him, but watched as the young man frowned and looked away.

"He is a stubborn one," Rita said as she appeared by Kim's side.

Kim turned around and saw Melissa and James. "Hey, when did you guys get here?"

"Just now," Melissa smiled as she hugged Kim. "It didn't take long to get everything in order."

"So what's the deal with that red ranger?" James gestured to Nick.

"I don't know," Kim looked back at Nick.

"He was turned evil a few days ago," Rita said and when the three turned to look at her, she explained further. She told them of how Nick and the others found out that Lianbow was Nick's father and how the Master captured Nick and turned him evil.

"And then he finds out that the Master is about to come back and that a bunch of former rangers are going to be around him," Kim sighed, "so he hasn't had any chance to deal with being evil and everything else."

"No," Rita shook her head.

"Well regardless of all that," Kim shook her head, "that's no reason for his attitude. We're here to help him and his rude behaviour is just throwing it back in our faces."

"Don't be too hard on him sweetie," Melissa wrapped an arm around Kim's shoulder.

"I won't," Kim smiled.

"Why aren't you sparring?" James asked.

"Some of the guys won't spar with me," Kim huffed, "they're afraid."

"As they should be," James laughed. "I know Tommy taught you."

"Dad," Kim groaned, "not you too."

James laughed and pinched her side gently. "You know we love you."

"Sometimes I wonder," Kim grinned.

"Hey Kim," Conner came up to them. "Wanna spar?"

"You mean you're not afraid like the others are?" Kim raised an eyebrow, teasing him.

"A little," Conner admitted with a laugh, "but hey, this is a learning experience and that's what I plan to do."

"Alright," Kim laughed as she walked over to him, "let's go."

"Sweet," Conner grinned as he threw an arm around her shoulders. "I'll go easy on you."

"Yeah...ok," Kim rolled her eyes with a smile.

The two bypassed everyone else and found a spot. Turning to each other, Conner bowed, grinning as he did so, before straightening back up and dropping into his familiar stance.

"You ready?" Kim called out as she mirrored his actions.

"Bring it on," Conner nodded.

Kim threw a punch at Conner's head, smiling to herself when he ducked out the way and sent one her way. She grabbed his hand, using it to pull his body to her and flipping him over her.

Conner twisted in the air and landed on his feet, before he went back after her; aiming a kick at her back, his eyes widened briefly when she dropped to the ground and swept his other leg from under him, sending him to the ground with an 'oomph'. He immediately got back to his feet.

"Good," Kim praised him. "Don't be afraid to use my body against me, like I did with yours just now."

"Got it," Conner nodded. The two continued to spar and soon enough, the others stopped what they were doing to watch them.

"Wow," Taylor smirked at Wes, Eric and the others. "To think that Conner can go against Kim and the rest of you were afraid to do so."

"She's probably going easy on him," Nick scoffed, not willing or wanting to admit praise to any of the former rangers.

"Dude," Dustin shook his head, "what the hell's your problem?"

"If you think she's going easy on him," Jason folded his arms, "then why don't you spar with her next?"

"Please," Nick sneered, "I can take her."

Tommy shook his head and bit his tongue from lashing out at the guy. He could understand being cocky, but this was just border-lining rude. The guy needed a serious wake-up call.

"Bowen," Udonna frowned at her son. "That attitude is not helping anyone young man, least of all yourself."

Maddie looked at her boyfriend, angry and ashamed at his behaviour. She couldn't understand why he was still acting that. He knew that Udonna and Mystic Mother wouldn't have brought al the former rangers back if they didn't believe they needed the help, so she didn't understand why he was acting like a first class jerk.

"And FYI," Kira glared at the red ranger, "it's not that she's going easy on him; this is a training exercise. She's helping him improve his fighting." She looked him up and down. "And I truly doubt you could take her, especially when she's not holding back."

~...~

Kim could hear everyone's conversation, but she ignored them and concentrated on sparring with Conner.

She spun around him, and used her palms to push him forward and off balance. Launching off the ground, she flipped over him, threw a punch at his stomach and kicked at his feet making him land flat on his back.

"Ow," Conner groaned as he rolled to his knees.

"Wanna stop?" Kim asked, knowing he'd say no.

"No," Conner shook his head and moved back to his feet. He wondered just how she had managed to pull that move.

Kim smiled when she saw the question in his eyes. "Come at me."

Nodding, he brushed himself off and attacked her. They ducked and dodged each other's blows, increasing their pace.

"Do what I did," Kim told Conner even as she moved from a blow and delivered a kick to his side.

Conner stumbled a bit but regained his footing and continued on. When she threw a punch at him, he grabbed her arm and spun her to him, pushing at her back to push her away. He flipped in front of her, punched her in the stomach and kicked at her feet, knocking her down.

The others let out cheers and amazement, but Conner ignored them. He knew that the move only worked because Kim allowed it to.

"Good," Kim breathed as she got back to her feet. "Do you remember the execution?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

"Now try to do it again," Kim grinned, "And this time, I'll fight it."

Nodding, he readied himself. He attacked her, doing what she had taught; he tried to do the move again, but found he couldn't get a good handle to do it. She was giving him hell, but he didn't mind.

~...~

"Told you," Kira turned a smug smile at Nick.

"But," Xander looked at them with confused eyes. "He just got her on the ground, why can't he do the same now?"

"Because she allowed him to do it," Rocky explained, "she let him hit her so that she could show him how it's done. Now, he had to try and do it again, but this time, she's not going to allow him to hit so easily again."

"Ohhh," echoed from the Mystic Force rangers and Clare.

"Shouldn't everyone be sparring?" Melissa asked as she looked at the group with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Cole grinned, "but we can't help wanting to watch Kim spar."

"There's just something about it," Adam smiled as his eyes followed his sister.

~...~

Kim groaned to herself as she listened to her friends. They were supposed to be training but they were too busy looking at her and Conner. Deflecting Conner's punch, she grinned evilly as she got an idea.

_[Shal]_

_**{Yes Kimberly?}**_

_[Go to Conner. I need you to tell him something, but I don't want the others to hear. Oh and, don't let Brennan know.]_

_**{What do you need me to tell him?} **_Shalimar could feel the amusement from her human and when she heard the plan, she couldn't help but to be amused as well.

Kim saw Conner's brows furrow for a split second before mischief lit up his eyes and he gave her a tiny nod.

They continued their sparring, the others still watching them. Conner was running towards Kim to throw a kick at her when he stopped suddenly and changed direction, as did Kim.

They ran towards the group before they disappeared from sight.

~...~

"Oh she's really good," Clare sighed, "they both are. I don't think I could ever do that."

"Don't sell yourself short," Taylor looked over at the girl, still marvelling at the resemblance between her and Krista. "Anyone could do that, especially in the right circumstances."

"Kim's just different," Trini said as she watched her baby sister. "She's the longest serving female ranger and she's also the most powerful female."

"Tommy here is the only person that is equal in power and strength to her," Billy added on.

Nick rolled his eyes but held back from saying anything, not wanting everyone to be on his case again. He still couldn't get over how everyone was acting, especially his own team. They didn't need help and he personally didn't think Kimberly was that powerful. Even if, _if_, he couldn't beat her, he was sure his parents could.

"What the?" Vida's shocked voice echoed through the group. "Where did they go?"

Tommy, who was standing next to Taylor, was always attuned to whenever Kimberly was near, suddenly and without warning pushed Taylor away.

"What the hell?" Taylor turned around, but stopped when she saw Kim fighting Tommy. "Where did she come from?"

Before anyone could answer, Conner had appeared behind Jason and had sent a punch to the original red ranger's back.

Conner and Kim made their way back to each other, disappearing once more and reappearing only to attack the others.

"Fight back!" Tommy ordered when he figured out what was going on. Kim had heard them and she was showing them that they were supposed to be sparring not talking.

The others finally picked up on it and they quickly fought back, against Kim and Conner and each other. The Mystic Force rangers had no choice but to join in and they quickly found themselves understanding what the former rangers were talking about; they had no idea how to fight like this, without powers.

Kim saw this as her chance to finally get to Nick so when he saw still standing around, she went after him. She went behind and lashed out at his feet, sending him to the ground.

"What?" She taunted, "The big bad red ranger thinks he's better than this?"

"Just shut up," Nick glared at her as he got to his feet.

"Or what?" Kim moved behind him and pushed him, making him stumble. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Nick growled.

"Oh so you think you _can_ hurt me," Kim laughed, "I'd like to see you try."

"I'm the son of the two most powerful rangers," Nick scoffed, "even the Master wanted me because of who my parents are. Trust me, I can more than hurt you."

Kim narrowed her eyes at him and the rangers that heard Nick's words were angry at him, but winced at his words, knowing what would happen. The kid would really regret them.

"You wanna know what I see when I look at you," Kim said as she pushed him again, "I see a spoiled brat that refuses to accept help, that thinks he's above this and that he's so strong, he can defeat this monster by himself." She pushed him once more. "Fine then, if you're so badass, then fight me. Or are you scared?"

Nick glared at her, her words sinking in making him angry. He hated what she was saying and he was eager to prove that he could take her.

"Let's do it then," Nick said.

Kim smirked and her eyes flashed pink with pleasure. Even her spirits were willing to him in his place and show that they needed to work as a team and his head needed to be pulled from his ass. She stopped, and stood still, allowing her body to relax as she closed her eyes. She focused on her bond with Shalimar and spoke to her animal.

~...~

"What is she doing?" Udonna asked. She was very intrigued by the petite girl. She had never met another like her.

"She's talking to Shalimar," Aisha answered. When they looked at her in confusion, she explained.

~...~

Nick attacked without warning, hoping to catch her off-guard.

Kim's eyes flew open at the last second and she blocked him; every punch, every hit, every kick that he threw, Kim blocked them all and he was thrown to the ground every time.

The others stopped and watched them, but this time, the original rangers were smirking at the red ranger, knowing that by the time the session was over, he'd either be more pissed off or he'd finally let go of his stubbornness.

"She's going to murder him," Eric said cheerfully. Kim was like their little sister and all of them had at one time or another been on the receiving end of her sparring session, so they knew what she was capable of.

"Yes she is," Andros grinned. "And he'll deserve it."

"You're going to let it happen?" Xander asked, wincing when he heard Nick slam into the ground.

"Look," Conner said without taking his eyes off of Kim and Nick. "Nick needs to be knocked down off his high horse. Right now, all he can think about is how we're cramping his style and that you guys don't need us. He's thinking like an ass and for himself and his pride instead of like the leader that he is. He's not thinking about the team, if he was, he'd realize and understand that you do need the help. He needs to be cooperating with us and him not doing that will place not only your team, but us as well, in jeopardy, because it means that he's not willing to trust in anyone else and on the battle field, that can cause deadly mistakes."

"If Kim knocking him on his ass until he gets that is what needs to happen," Rocky said, "then it'll happen."

"And we won't interfere," Joey said.

"But why her?" Clare asked, "not that I have anything against her, but I would imagine it would've been one of you."

"Because you see her as your little sister," Maddie said suddenly. "You trust her judgement and you're not going to accept Nick until she gets through to him."

"Very perceptive," Trini smiled at the girl, causing her to smile back. "That and, all of the guys here have been where Nick is. So they know what's going to happen." She paused. "Ok, none of them had the attitude Nick had, but still..."

"You've all fought her?" Chip looked between the rangers and Kim and Nick, wincing when he saw Kim twist Nick's arm behind his back.

"Maybe not all of us," Jason grinned, "the rest of them learned from the ones that did fought against her and knew not to do anything that made Kim want to spar with them."

"She's exquisite," Daggeron said as his eyes followed Kim. "The way she moves, how she uses his strength and his body against him."

The Mystic Force team gasped in shock and horror when they saw Nick summon his sword. When they moved to intercept, the others stopped them.

"Don't," Tommy shook his head. "Don't underestimate her."

"But Nick is really good with his sword," Vida said, "the only one who's better is Lianbow."

"Trust us," Carter said, "she can handle herself."

~...~

Kim grinned and shook her head when she saw Nick with his sword. _'Really? Really? The kid seriously thinks that's gonna make me scared? Well...if that's how he wants to play it...'_

"Ok then," Kim said. "Even with that sword, you still won't touch me."

Nick growled and charged at her. Kim dodged the blow, reaching out to grab the hand that held the sword and twisting away before she punched him in his side.

Nick recoiled, a slight noise of pain escaping his lips. He swung his hand around, throwing a punch at her face, but she moved at the last second and he grew angry. He increased the speed of his attacks.

Seeing it, Kim summoned her Crane Wind Sword making the Mystic Team gasp in awe. "Let's dance."

The clash of the swords echoed throughout the clearing. Every parry, every thrust, every block, every move was done intently and was watched just as intently by everyone else.

Kim was really angry at Nick and she intended to teach him a lesson. She wasn't even using her full potential, she was still holding back as she knew that there was no way he could handle it.

Deciding to end things quickly, she threw her sword in the air, ran at Nick, and punched the wrist holding his sword allowing his hand to open from the pain. When it did, she quickly grabbed his sword and threw it away before punching him in his stomach and dropping low to send a kick at his legs, throwing him on the ground.

She flipped back to her feet, just in time to catch her sword, before she held it against his neck. "Do you yield?"

The former ranger—and Tommy's parents—cheered while the Mystic team stared in shock.

"Whatever," Nick glared as he pushed her sword from his neck. He couldn't believe that he had actually lost to her. His pride and ego were bruised and damaged. He quickly rolled over, collected his sword and stood up. "Just because you beat me doesn't mean anything. You couldn't touch my father. He's a better swordsman than I am."

"If fighting your father will prove it to you, I will," Kim sighed, "I'm not your enemy Nick, I'm your ally."

Nick scoffed and turned to walk away. He ignored the others and missed the way Kim's eyes darkened in anger and shifted to pink. The others didn't.

"Uhm," Billy shifted on his feet. "I think it would be most beneficial to remove ourselves from this vicinity immediately lest we become entrapped within the crossfire."

"What?" echoed throughout the others.

"We need to get out of the way before Kim turns on us," Ethan translated as he grabbed Angela's hand and started pulling her away. The others had started to move as well.

The Mystic Force was pulled away by the some of the former rangers, looking at them in confusion.

"Nick has pushed Kim to her boiling point," Adam clarified, "now, she's truly pissed and she's going to let him know."

"And you do not want to be in the way when that happens," Joey said as he remembered when Kim had gone off on him.

His words were said just in time as Kim exploded.

"YOU EGOTISTICAL, STUBBORN ASSHOLE!" Kim yelled, making the others jump in fright and all the males thanking God that they weren't on the receiving end of that.

Nick whirled around, his eyes wide with shock. He watched as Kim stormed up to him, her eyes seemingly glowing pink.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" Kim roared. "DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO DIE JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BEING A DUMBASS?"

Nick opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't, as Kim had continued speaking.

"NO!" Kim stopped him. "YOU DON'T GET TO TALK. JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

A pink glow surrounded her and her hair came out of her ponytail and whipped around her as a wind picked up. The pink glow extended until it surrounded Nick and then disappeared, leaving a glass dome around him and Kim, cutting them off from the others. Unlike the last time Kim created the dome, this time, the others wouldn't be able to hear what was being said.

~...~

"Oh my!" Udonna's eyes opened wide.

"Did she just create that?" Chip asked.

"Kimberly is very powerful," Rita said. "It's one of the reasons Zedd and I had spent so much trying to destroy her and Tommy. It was because we knew that her, and him, were the two most powerful rangers."

~...~

Nick looked around in complete awe and shock. He had never ever seen or heard of a ranger being able to do something like this. He knew he was powerful because of who his parents were, but even he couldn't do something like this, especially without magic.

"Listen to me Nick," Kim spoke, drawing his attention back to her, "and listen good. I know that you're upset about us being and us helping you, but we were serious when we said you needed it. Do you think Rita would have called us for, not one team, but all of us former rangers here if she thought you guys could've handled this yourselves? You can't! That's why we're here and the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can move on."

"We didn't even get a chance to even try," Nick countered, "how does she know we can't handle it?"

"Are you serious?" Kim asked staring at him incredulously. "She _is_ the Mystic Mother, which means she has all the information about just how strong a team is, about the monsters and whether or not they could handle it. Open your brain and think! Stop being so fucking stubborn and get off your damn high horse!"

Kim took a few deep, calming breaths. When she was sufficiently calmed, she walked over to him and stopped a few feet away. "Look, I understand how you're feeling, I really do. But you need to get over it. Nick, from what we've been told, this guy is trouble; he's more dangerous than anyone we've ever faced. In fact, he's a past villain of ours. The fact that he's back just shows how powerful he is. Are you really that angry because we're here or is there something else making you angry and we're just the most convenient target?"

Nick looked away, her words hitting home. He hadn't thought anyone would be able to read him so well. He knew that the others knew he was angry about having the former rangers there, but nobody had figured out that the real reason he was so angry was because of Lianbow being his father and his turning evil.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Kim looked him over. "There's something else you're angry about. Does it have anything to do with Lianbow or your being turn evil?"

Nick looked at her in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Well Rita told me," Kim answered, "and I spoke to Firass."

"Who's Firass?" Nick asked, his brows furrowing.

"Your phoenix," Kim replied. When she saw the shock and confusion, she smiled. "You didn't think that your zord or your powers were just a coincidence, did you? Firass is your spirit animal."

"What's that?" Nick cocked his head to the side.

Kim crossed her legs and lowered herself to the ground, sitting Indian style. "It's kind of a long explanation, so I'd rather sit. You can too if you want."

Nick looked at her for a few seconds before he followed her.

"Alright," Kim smiled, "before I explain about your spirit animal, I should tell you what I am."

She explained about being a Ninjetti and what that entailed. He asked questions and she answered them to them. She explained what a spirit animal was and just how he could connect to his own even more fully.

When they were done speaking about that, she asked him about his life as ranger. It took a while, but with reluctance Nick found himself opening up to her. To his surprise, he found himself explaining just how he was feeling with finding his birth parents, of being a ranger, of being a part of a group, of a team and of having friends he could count on. He also told her about the last few days and being evil and how that affected him.

Kim then explained her own ranger past and being evil and how she had almost destroyed her friends. She also told him about Tommy and his own evil past. The two talked, ignoring everything and everyone but themselves.

~...~

"What's going on?" Lianbow asked as he watched the original pink ranger walk up to his son.

"We told you," Zack spoke up, "Kim is pissed off. I don't know if you've realized it, but Nick is not exactly happy to have us here."

"That's the understatement of the year," Justin snickered.

"Justin," Cassie reached out and smacked the young man on his head.

"Sorry," Justin grinned sheepishly.

"I wonder what she's saying," Melissa said as she watched Nick look away. "Whatever it is, it's getting to him."

They watched as Kim sat down, followed seconds later by Nick.

"She's telling him about her past," Aisha said, "she's showing him that she's willing to trust him, even though it's not a secret and that she understands what he's going through."

"She's been evil before?" Daggeron asked, looking from Kim to the rangers.

"Yes," Trini nodded, "so has Kat, Tommy and basically rangers from every team."

"But unlike us," Kat continued, "whenever Kim and Tommy turn evil, it's way worse."

"How so?" Chip asked.

"Well," Tommy answered this time, "whenever a ranger is turned evil, they are under the command of the one that turned them. Basically, they're like—and no offence guys—mindless drones that follow orders. But not for me and Kim; when we're turned evil, well, we basically do things our way. Even though we're under a spell, we know everything that's going on; it's like another part of us in control."

"What do you mean?" Clare asked.

"Unlike the other rangers," Tommy explained, "Kim and I have two different Alter Egos. First, we have Brennan and Shalimar; they're our most powerful good power that we've touched and so they're our good alter egos. And then, there's Dragon and Firebird; they're our most powerful dark power we've touched and are our dark alter egos. If Kim and I are turned evil, then Dragon and Firebird take over."

"And when they take over," Adam winced, remembering when Tommy was kidnapped by Gasket and what happened on Murianthesis, "you do not want to be on the receiving end of that power. They're virtually impossible to stop."

"So how do you get turned back to the side of good?" Melissa asked; she was very interested and intrigued by what she was learning. She had known of them being rangers, but she had no idea it was like this. Not even when Kim had been gone for a year and they had all traded stories did she learn of this.

"The only one who can turn them back, is each other," Rocky answered. "If anyone else tries," he chuckled, "well, let's just say it'd be a big mistake on their part."

"I just thank God that the two of them was never evil at the same time," Jason chuckled. "Then, we'd have our work cut out for us."

"I know, right?" Zack laughed.

"Shut up," Tommy groused playfully.

Conner grinned and shook his head before he sat down on the ground, pulling Kira with him, allowing the girl to sit between his legs.

"What?" She asked as she leaned back against him.

"It might be awhile," Conner told her, "figured I'd get comfortable."

The others looked at him before following suit.

"So," Vida turned to the former rangers. "Can you tell us more about your ranger lives?"

"Sure," Carter nodded and soon enough, the rangers told the newest members of their family just how they became rangers, about their battles and their lives after rangers.

~...~

"Wow," Nick looked at Kim when she was done speaking. "You guys have been through a lot of crap. Makes what I'm going through seems like a walk in the park."

Kim laughed. "Nick, I didn't tell you everything I just did to demean what you told me. I told you so that you'd know that I do understand, more than you thought, about what you went through and how you're feeling. Trust me, your guilt is nothing compared to mine or even Tommy's Guilt Complex."

"It's just," Nick sighed. "I've spent my whole life looking for my real parents and then not only did I find them, but I found out that my mother is a powerful witch, my father who was thought dead for trying to protect us was actually turned evil and has been our villain for the last few months, have said father turned back to the side of good, find out that I am the child of Light and to top it all off, we're not even from the same dimension as everyone else! It's all a little overwhelming."

"I'd be surprised if you _weren't_ overwhelmed," Kim remarked. "But it's how you deal with it that matters. Your anger that you've been showing, that's understandable, but when you keep it going like you've done, then that's just overdoing it. We're here to help Nick."

"I know," Nick admitted softly after a moment of silence. "I do and I know I've been acting like a real jerk the last few hours, few days actually, and I am sorry. I've been trying to work on it because the last time I acted like that, Maddie paid the price for it."

"I know," Kim said, causing him to watch her in surprise, so she explained. "After you guys became rangers, we monitored you. So we know about Maddie turning into a statue."

"Oh," Nick looked away in remembered shame.

"Hey," Kim grabbed his chin and brought his gaze back to hers. "It's ok. She forgave you, as did the others, so it's water under the bridge."

"After how I've been acting," Nick looked at her, "how can you be so calm and still so friendly towards me?"

"It's part of my nature," Kim shrugged with a grin. "I can't stay mad too long at someone. Now come on, we'll relax some more before we start using our powers."

"Is Firass still angry and disappointed with me?" Nick asked as they both stood up.

Kim concentrated for a few seconds before she smiled at him. "No. He's happy that you finally talked and released the confusion, pain and anger you've been holding in." She glanced at him. "When you have time, you really should try and connect with him."

"I didn't even know I had him," Nick admitted.

"Well why did you think the manifest of your powers is a phoenix?" Kim asked with a giggle. "Or that your zord is one? The powers and zord are based off of your animal spirit which is a representation of your true self."

"So, everyone has one?" Nick asked.

"Yes," Kim nodded, "everyone has an animal spirit, but only a few are capable of harnessing its powers, of connecting so effortlessly and those are Ninjetti, which are me, Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Billy."

"Cool," Nick nodded before he looked around. "Wanna lower the dome now?"

"Oh, right," Kim laughed and her eyes glowed pink for a brief second as she collapsed the dome.

"Thanks," Nick grinned as he jogged over to the others.

"Oh and Nick?" Kim called out before he got too far.

"Yeah?" Nick stopped and turned back to look at her.

Kim narrowed her eyes at him. "You ever act the way you did today to me and my friends again," she took a step towards him, "and I will trap you in a room with Egyptian asps after I slowly and painfully remove Firass from you...got it?"

Nick paled considerably and his eyes went wide with fear at her words and the venom in her voice. He could only nod.

Kim smiled and reached out to pat his shoulder, laughing when he flinched. "Good...now, you can go."

He nodded and turned to jog towards the others.

Kim giggled softly before she tipped her head to the sky. She cracked her neck and focused on her powers.

~...~

"So?" Xander questioned when Nick stopped in front of the group. "Everything cool now?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "Everything's fine. She just helped realize and understand some things. Speaking of..." he turned to the former rangers. "I want to say I'm sorry for how I acted today to you guys. I don't really have an excuse except that I was going through some stuff and I took it out on you guys."

"Kim did a number on you," Shane grinned.

"Yeah," Nick rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

The rangers—Melissa and James included—laughed.

"Alright, apology accepted," Tommy nodded.

"Seriously?" Nick looked at all of them. "Just like that?"

"Kim already went off on you," Andros said, "and trust me, _that_ was way worse than anything we could've said or done. It'll resonate more with you and make you never ever want to get on her bad side again."

Nick remembered the words Kim had just told him and he flinched slightly.

"Now," Rocky grinned, "what did Kim threaten you with just now?"

"How'd you know she threatened me?" Nick looked at him in surprise.

"Well," Danny spoke up, "you looked a little terrified before you came over here."

"And just now," Leo continued, "you flinched when Andros said you'd never want to get on her bad side again."

"So I repeat," Rocky smiled, "what did she threaten you with?"

Nick told them what Kim had said; the Mystic team looked at him in horror while everyone else laughed and nodded.

"Is she for real?" Vida asked, looking back at Kim, unable to believe the petite and bubbly girl could be so threatening.

"Yep," the others nodded.

"I think she's threatened us all at one point or another," Mike's brows furrowed.

"And we make sure we do nothing to make her carry out her threats," Carter said, "'cause she would fulfil them."

"What is it she's doing now?" Lianbow asked as he looked back to where Kim was.

"Practice," Tommy said as he stood up. He left the group and headed to where Kim was.

Kim smiled without opening her eyes. "Hey Handsome."

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked as he stopped in front of her.

"Just wanted to try something," Kim said as she opened her eyes.

"Go for it," Tommy nodded.

"Ok," Kim smiled, "well, Alexia said that we have control over the elements right—water, fire, earth, air—with more significant control over air than the others."

"Yeah," Tommy nodded.

"So," Kim grinned, "I just wanted to see how strong my control is over them."

"Like all at once?" Tommy cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah," Kim nodded, "we're equal in power, so you can try with me."

"Ladies first," Tommy grinned.

"Ok," Kim grinned. Her eyes glowed pink and she held her arms out to her side; leaves, twigs, rocks and other stuff started floating off the ground, the earth shook a bit and a crack appeared and ran around Tommy and Kim circling them. Kim bit her lip and focused even further; she lifted her hands slowly upwards and the earth rose out of the ground, rising with her and Tommy on it. She stopped it a few feet from the ground and cocked her head at her boyfriend.

~...~

"What are they doing?" Chip asked as he stood up slowly and stared at the two in amazement.

"I've never seen anyone able to do that," Maddie breathe.

"Not even I can do that," Dustin shook his head, "and my Ninja power is control over earth."

"My magic is focused on the earth as well," Xander looked at him before looking back and Kim and Tommy. "But I can't do that without using a spell."

"They really are powerful, aren't they?" Nick breathed out.

"Yes they are," James nodded as did the rest of the former rangers.

~...~

Tommy's eyes started glowing white as he focused on his powers; his hands stayed at his side and flames licked at his fingertips. The flames grew and cascaded off into the air, growing even more as it formed a ball of fire above them. Tommy held the fire for a bit before he let it die down.

Kim grinned and the wind picked up around them. Just like with the flames with Tommy, she focused and water erupted from her fingertips. She let it grew until it formed an arch of water above them, water falling like rain drops around them.

Tommy cocked his head to the side as he lowered the raised earth back into the ground; the wind moved and twirled around them as an air bubble formed, trapping them inside, but allowing the water to fall freely to the ground. Concentrating intently, he moved the bubble towards the others.

Aisha, Rocky, Adam and Billy shared a glance and stepped forward. Their eyes started to glow their respective colours as they too tapped into their powers. They took off at a run and just before Kim and Tommy reached them, they jumped into the air and landed into the air bubble.

Each focused their powers into, causing the bubble to glow red, yellow, blue, black, white and pink.

To the awe of the rangers below, they watched as six animals appeared and circled the bubble, playing with each other for a while before they went back to their respective humans.

The Ninjetti looked at each other and smiled and lowered the bubble to the ground. The bubble slowly disappeared. Aisha, Adam, Rocky and Billy stepped back to stand with the others while Tommy stood in front of Kim.

Kim had her eyes closed, a small smile playing on her face. She opened her eyes and looked directly into Tommy's.

"Go on," Tommy laughed, seeing the pure joy radiating from her eyes.

Kim laughed. Her body glowed pink and she rose in the air a little and started twirling around, the water that was in the arch above her twirling as she did. Her laughter echoed in the openness and everyone found themselves grinning at the absolutely delight in it.

A screech sounded and everyone watched as a pink bird came soaring through the skies. The bird flew around Kim before it settled above her, its wings spread wide. Tilting her head up, Kim smiled and focused on her powers, pulling it back under control; the pink glow disappeared from around her body, the water fell to the ground and the bird screeched before it disappeared into Kim's body. She floated slowly to the ground.

"That was so much fun!" Kim laughed as she went into Tommy's arms.

~…~

Down in the Underworld, in his home, the Master opened his eyes. He had felt a surge just now, something familiar and intrinsic to him. His eyes slipped close as he concentrated and focused on the feeling; a while later, they flew open in surprise and delight when he recognized it.

'_It cannot be! She is here…my child,' _dark satisfaction rolled through him, _'I have found her. I cannot fully claim her until I am at full power, but I can start the process.' _Focusing on the link between him and his child, he awoken the part of him and poured just a bit more of himselfinto the link. The evil would slowly start to spill over and then when he regained his power, it would make it much easier to reclaim her.

'_Soon my child...soon you'll be back with me and together...we shall rule the world.'_

~...~

"That was awesome!" Taylor grinned as she pulled Kim from Tommy's arms and into a hug. "Girl, you are amazing!"

"Thanks," Kim laughed, "it was a lot of fun."

"We should head inside," Udonna said, "it is near mid-afternoon and I would assume that after all this sparring and power usage that you are hungry."

"Yes!" Rocky shouted and ran inside, the others laughing at him. The others followed him inside, still chuckling.

Taylor had released Kim from her hug and went to jump on Eric's back for a piggyback ride.

Kim was walking alongside Tommy when she stopped suddenly, her hand flying to grab her head.

"Kimberly?" Tommy stopped and turned to her when she let out a moan. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Kim whispered. She dropped her hand and shook her head. "Just felt strange for a bit." She took in the concerned look in his eyes and smiled, reaching out to lace their fingers together. "I probably just over did it."

Tommy didn't look convinced. "You're sure?"

"Tommy," Kim smiled, "That was the first time I did something like that. I'm fine though...seriously."

"Alright," Tommy relaxed and unlaced their fingers and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his body. He pressed a kiss to her head. "I worry because it's my job and I love you."

"I know," Kim grinned up at him, "and I love you too."

He smiled at her and the two headed inside. When they got there, Tommy led them directly to the couch and sat down, allowing Kim to lie against him. Soon enough, her eyes slipped close and she fell asleep.

No one knew that beneath her closed lids, Kim's eyes shifted from brown to red.

* * *

**A/N 2: **and that was chapter three. Things are picking up. Now that you guys have read, review so I can know you thought...**  
**_Kila__**  
**_


	4. The Master Awakens

**Chapter: 4: **The Master's Awakening  
**Setting: AU: **before and during Mystic Force  
**Story Summary: **the rangers go to Briarwood to help with the Master, but are shocked when they realize the Master is Maligore and that Kim is the child he's after. Will they be able to stop him or will they lose Kim to evil once and for all?

**Chapter Word Count: **9,566

**A/N: **here is the fourth chapter. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed this story and has it on alert/favourite. Enjoy the new chapter...

**Reviewers:****  
sabina21; taeniaea; Young at Heart21; RFK22; hopelessromanticgurl; PrincessKarlita411; LoveNLearn; hewhoreaps; Falcon4Crane;**

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers and all its affiliates belong to Haim Saban; no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In other words, I don't own them and I'm not making any money from writing this.

**O.P.D.: **_Friday 5__th__ October, '12._

* * *

_Last time on MD;_

_-the former rangers arrived in Briarwood_

_-introductions are made and their training sessions start_

_-the Master makes his first move_

* * *

Two days later, the rangers were once again out in the woods surrounding Rootcore. The last two days were spent getting to know the new team and training, but today was different. Unlike their last sessions, this time, they would be fighting against each other using their powers.

James and Melissa were sitting with Rita, watching the rangers.

"So," Maddie looked at the others, "how are we going to do this?"

"You guys should be able to use your powers without morphing," Joey said and then he gestured to the rest of the former rangers, "we can, and if you can't, we'll teach you how."

"We can use our powers without morphing," Vida spoke up, "but it's not the same way you're talking about. At least, I don't think so. And more often than not, we have to use our morphers/wands to do so."

"We'll teach you how to do it without the morphers," Shane smiled, "that way, if you ever for any reason, lose them, you can still be protected."

"Cool," Chip grinned, excited to start.

"And while the Mystic team is doing that," Jason looked around, "the rest of us will be fighting against each other. And I mean fighting. We won't be sparring, but actually fighting to hurt each other."

The rangers exchanged looks and then nodded at each other.

"Let's do this," Carter said as he moved away from the group a little. The others followed his movements and separated as well.

The Mystic Force, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder and Ninjetti teams moved to form a group with the Mystic team in the middle.

"Nick," Aisha looked over at the red ranger, "your control is over fire because your powers and spirit animal is a phoenix. You can not only manipulate it, but you can create it as well."

Nick looked intrigued and a little hesitant to believe, so Rocky explained.

"When you guys first became rangers," Rocky told them, "the attack in the woods. You had to believe in magic to tap into the powers and you did so without your wand."

"How do you know that?" Xander looked at the former rangers in confusion.

Conner snorted. "You're really asking that? From each team, there's a tech expert, sometimes two of them, so with all the teams together, we had more than enough people qualified to hack into the satellite system."

"We're going to teach you how to use your powers like you did the very first time," Adam said. "Each of us here has powers that we can use without morphing."

"Like the Ninjetti," Shane spoke up, "we," he gestured to the rest of the Ninja Storm team, "have control over the elements so we can tap into them anytime we want. I have control over air…"

"I control water," Tori said, her eyes and voice serious.

"Earth," Dustin smiled, though his eyes and voice were just serious as Tori.

"We have power over thunder," Hunter waved a hand in his brother's direction.

Conner took off and ran around the lake, coming back to a stop. It had taken him seconds. "I have super speed," he told the Mystic Rangers.

"My skin goes diamond tough," Ethan said as he concentrated and seconds later, they saw the diamond texture cover his arm.

Angela disappeared from view, and reappeared behind Maddie, tapping the girl on her shoulder and causing her to jump in fright. "I have the power of invisibility."

Krista grinned as she brought a hand up in front of her. A pink glow emitted, growing until it became a solid bubble and surrounded her. She moved her hand forward and the bubble left her to encase Kira. She held it for a few seconds before she let it disappear. She then smiled at the rangers, "Force field."

"I'm a chameleon," Trent said, "I can camouflage myself, but I have to be touching something."

"Cool," Chip grinned.

"And what about you?" Lianbow asked Kira. "What can you do?"

Kira grinned and took a step back from Kim. She turned so that she was facing the lake and then, she screamed.

"Ow!" the Mystic team cried out as they slapped their hands over their ears.

The former rangers stumbled, surprised at the sound, but quickly got back into their fighting.

"What the hell was that?" Vida looked at Kira.

"Ptera scream," Kira smirked.

"So you guys had to learn how to continue fighting while she used that?" Maddie asked, looking at each of the former rangers.

"Yes," Ethan nodded.

"And you are going to teach them how to do that?" Udonna asked, looking from her rangers to the former.

"Yes," the teams said as one.

"Well then," Daggeron grinned, "let's get started."

That was the signal they all needed and soon enough, the training was underway. Shane and Kim worked with Vida as she had power over air; Adam, Billy and Tori worked with Maddie; Blake and Hunter worked with Chip; Dustin, Rocky and Aisha worked with Xander and Tommy worked with Nick.

While the Ninja Storm, Mystic Force and Ninjetti worked, the Dino Thunder team worked with Daggeron, Udonna and Lianbow around the groups, allowing the Mystic rangers to get comfortable with the idea of using their powers while they were using theirs.

~…~

Down in the Underworld, things were heating up as well. The foot soldiers as well as the minions were all tense with the anticipation weaving through the air. The power that they were pouring into their Master was building and they could feel that he would soon awaken. They couldn't wait.

"Soon, it will all be over for the rangers," Necrolai cackled as she concentrated on siphoning her powers to her master.

"The Master shall be free to destroy them and rule the world," Itassis cackled.

Maligore moved so that one eye could see above where his minions were. He could hear everything that was being said and while he relished their talk, he was more interested in finding _her_. Getting her back would prove more than beneficial to him and it would also mean the end of the rangers. Speaking of the rangers, he knew they already knew what was happening, but they weren't sure when he would return. It was an advantage they would have over the rangers. Focusing his thoughts on Necrolai, he ordered her to send the Hidiacs to attack.

~…~

Back at Rootcore, the Mystic rangers were starting to get the hang of tapping into their magic without using their wands when the alarm went off.

"What the hell?" Dana asked as she stopped and looked at the others.

"What it is that?" Kai turned to where the Mystic team was standing.

"The alarm," Udonna said as she left her rangers and headed inside.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and took off after her.

"What is it Udonna?" Ashley asked as she watched the white witch.

"Hidiacs," Udonna replied as she looked at the Xenotome. "They're attacking the town."

"We have to stop them," Xander looked at the others.

"Go," Carter said, "we'll come if it gets too much."

"Alright," Nick nodded before looking at his teammates. "Ready?!"

"Ready!" Maddie, Vida, Chip and Xander repeated.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" all five shouted.

"_Galwyn Mysto Ranger!"_

A bright light covered the room and when it disappeared, the rangers were in their uniform.

"Let's go," Nick said and the teens ran to their brooms, grabbed them and flew out.

"Brooms?" Conner chuckled when they left. "Seriously?"

"I know, right?" Dustin, Rocky and Zhane looked at him. All four winced when they were head slapped by Kira, Tori, Aisha and Karone respectively.

"Boys," Kim shook her head, "you deserved that."

They smiled sheepishly as everyone laughed and then, they all turned their attention to the ball, watching the Mystic Rangers battle the Hidiacs.

~…~

Meanwhile, the Mystic rangers arrived downtown to see the Hidiacs destroying everything.

"Hey!" Nick shouted, drawing their attention. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The Hidiacs turned to face the rangers and stared at them for a few seconds before they attacked.

"Whoa!" Chip exclaimed as he jumped back from a blow. "Now, why you gotta be like that?"

"Now gents," Xander said, grinning under his helmet, "I'm sure we can work this out." He lost his grin when a Hidiac attacked him from behind. "Whoa!...guess not."

"Xander," Vida growled, "it didn't work the first time, why the hell would it work this time?"

All talking ceased as the fighting increased.

"Maddie, duck!" Chip shouted at the blue ranger as he fired a lightning bolt at a couple of Hidiacs.

The rangers used their powers and soon enough, the number of Hidiacs were dwindling. When the final Hidiac was destroyed, Chip pumped a fist in the air.

"Uh, I wouldn't celebrate too quickly," Maddie said, drawing his—and everyone else's—attention.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked with his head cocked to the side as he looked at the blue ranger.

"Because of that," Maddie pointed at the monster standing just a few feet away.

"Oh man!" Chip groaned even as he dropped into a fighting stance.

"It really shouldn't be a surprise," Vida snorted, "this happens all the time."

That was all that was said as the rangers threw themselves into the fight.

Xander was hit by one of the monster's blast, sending him flying back against the building. When the smoke cleared, they saw a tentacle wrapped around his neck.

"Xander!" Vida shouted out, her voice filled with fear as she raced to him. Using her knife, she cut the tentacles from around his neck and helped him to his feet. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Xander coughed out as he rubbed his throat. He dropped his hand and looked at her, his eyes staring directly into hers despite the helmets blocking their views. "Didn't know you cared so much V."

Vida scowled beneath her helmet, "I don't. I just didn't want us to be down a man, that's all." _'He can be such a jerk sometimes!' _She thought as she turned to stomp away

"V," Xander's voice was a little softer than before as he caught hold of her arm, preventing her from walking away. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. _'Just tell her! Tell her how you feel!'_

"What?" Vida whirled around. "What could you possibly have to say?"

~…~

"I sense a moment coming on," Taylor grinned and the other girls chuckled.

"It's about time," Claire muttered, but she was heard by everyone and blushed when she realized she had their attention. "Sorry…didn't mean for anyone to hear me."

"It's ok," Kelsey chuckled, "we agree because we've been watching you guys since they became rangers."

"You have?" Daggeron raised an eyebrow in the ranger's direction.

"Yep," Andros nodded, "when the Nick and the others tapped into their powers, we had had an alert out, so we knew. We basically kept watch now and again."

~…~

Underneath his helmet, Xander swallowed to wet his suddenly dry throat. "V, I—

"Guys!" Chip shouted over to them, "we need help over here!"

Xander groaned and dropped Vida's arm and muttered angrily, "Couldn't have waited a few minutes Chip?"

Vida heard him and she turned to him and cocked her head to the side. Beneath her helmet, she grinned suddenly and was very glad her face was hidden because she knew her face was red. As she and Xander started towards the others, she stopped him and murmured low enough for him to hear only, "we are finishing this conversation." She squeezed his hand and then took off towards the others.

Xander stood still for a few minutes before he grinned and hurried after the pink ranger. His heart was pounding with joy because he knew, he was about to get his girl and nothing could bring him down now.

With that thought in mind, he re-joined the fighting with his friends. More invigorated, the rangers managed to destroy the monster and were quick to call on their zords when the monster turned giant. Half an hour later, the monster was finally destroyed and the rangers quickly made their way back to Rootcore.

~…~

Down in the Underworld, the other monsters groaned and yelled when they saw the Hidiacs and the monster being destroyed.

The Master's eye appeared and a growl sounded through the room, cutting through all the yelling. "What do you want us to do Master?" Necrolai asked as she dropped to her knees.

A glow surrounded the room and when it disappeared, the villains were shocked by what they saw.

The Master's eye reappeared and he growled again.

Necrolai had a nasty grin on her face. "These rangers will never know what hit them."

~…~

"So who do you guys think this child is?" Conner asked as he watched the Mystic team fight.

"I think it's Nick," Taylor said, drawing everyone's eyes to her.

"Why do you say that?" Kelsey asked.

"Ok," Taylor shifted so that she could see almost everyone. "He's the son of two powerful rangers, Udonna and Lianbow. Lianbow already had his run-in with the Master and he spent the last, what, twenty years, being under his control. Nick was kidnapped before we got here, but they managed to turn him back and from what we know, he was kidnapped _because _of who his parents are."

"That does make sense," Cam agreed with a thoughtful frown.

"So you think the Master is after our son?" Lianbow asked looking from one former ranger to another.

"Yes," all the rangers nodded.

"I mean, think about it," Kai said, "From what Kim said Zordon and the others told her, this child is powerful."

"And, when I talked to Nick," Kim continued, "he told me that the villains, when they had him, referred to him as the Child of Light."

"So," Cassie bit her lip, "if Nick is this child, then that means—

"Maddie and Vida and Chip and Xander are all in danger if this guy ever gets his hands back on Nick," Ashley finished.

"We can't let that happen," Maya looked at her friends.

"We won't," Joey shook his head, "no way in hell will we let it happen."

"Question is," Conner spoke up, "How do we tell Nick and the others that they're the ones we're here to protect?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth did the Mystic rangers walked back into the room. They demorphed as they replaced their brooms in the spaces and then turned to everyone else.

"Did something happen?" Maddie asked as she looked at all the rangers, noting the serious looks on their faces.

"Very perceptive, isn't she?" Karone grinned.

Maddie flushed lightly from the praise, still a little unused to people complimenting her.

"Is she right?" Nick asked as he looked from his parents to the other rangers, "did something happen?"

"No," Zack shook his head, "We think we figured out who this Child is that we're supposed to protect."

"Who is it?" Vida raised an eyebrow at the group of past rangers.

"We think it's Nick," Ashley replied.

"What?" Nick was shocked, as were the Mystic Rangers.

"Why Nick?" Xander frowned as he looked at his friend.

And so, the rangers explained what they had come up with. When they were done, the Mystic team was looking at them in slight shock, worry and confusion.

"Me?" Nick looked from one person to another, "You think the child is me?"

"It makes sense," Danny sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "And that means that Maddie, Vida, Xander and Chip are in danger as well."

"How so?" Maddie asked. She took a step closer to Nick and grabbed his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together.

"Well from what Kim told us," Tanya spoke up, "If the Master gets his hands on Nick, he'll turn him back evil and then, he'll turn you guys as well because you're so close to him."

In the back, Kim rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever."

Tommy and Aisha, who were closest to her, heard her and both stared at her in confusion.

"So we're gonna be turned evil?" Chip asked. "Cool!"

At that, every head turned to stare at him.

"Oh," Chip grinned sheepishly, "sorry. I mean, bad, that'd be really bad."

"Sometimes I worry about you Chip," Vida shook her head, "I really do."

"You should go and rest," Udonna advised gently, "This is a lot to take in."

Nick turned and left without a word.

Maddie gave an apologetic smile to the group before going after her boyfriend.

"Well this sucks," Vida grumbled, "Not only to we have stop the Master from getting Nick back, but we have to make sure we don't get caught either."

"It could be worse," Xander grinned and threw an arm around Vida's shoulders.

She looked up at him dryly, "How?"

"Eh," Xander shrugged, "I thought that was what you were supposed to say in times like this."

Vida glared at the taller teen and pushed him away with a huff. She then turned and stalked from the room.

"V!" Xander chuckled.

"Leave me alone Alexander!" Vida snapped without turning around.

Xander winced at his full name. Because she was walking away, he couldn't see the smile playing on her lips, but the rangers in front of her could and they chuckled.

"Better go calm her down," Xander said cheerfully and he took off after the surly pink ranger.

"Those two are a match made in heaven," Alyssa giggled, "they remind me so much of Taylor and Eric."

"Hey!" Taylor threw a glare at her best friend.

"Tay," Tori rolled her eyes at her sister, "You know you acted the same way when you and Eric first met."

"She's right," Eric grinned.

"Traitors," Taylor muttered, but you could tell she was fighting a smile, or a laugh, "both of you."

"We love you still," Tori laughed.

"Wait," Chip interrupted with a wave of his hand, "You guys think Vida and Xander are a couple? They're not!"

"Not yet," Dana countered with a grin, "but they will be."

"But Vida doesn't even like Xander like that!" Chip protested, "she thinks he's a womanizing jerk!"

"Jealousy," all the girls said as one.

"What?" Chip was doing a pretty good imitation of a fish.

"She hates the fact that he flirts with so many different girls because she wants to be the only girl he's flirting with," Kelsey explained with a grin.

"But," Maya picked up, "she's also too stubborn to just outright tell him that."

"So instead," Cassie smiled, "she picks fights with him to hide how she really feels and because when they fight, his attention on is on her."

"You guys are reading too much into this," Chip said and walked out the room, heading up the stairs as he muttered to himself.

The moment he was out of sight, they all started laughing.

"What a fucking idiot," Kim scoffed as she started to leave the room.

Everyone turned to look at the girl with shocked eyes.

"Kimberly!" Melissa stared at her, "That was uncalled for."

"Bite me," Kim rolled her eyes and walked away without looking back, leaving everyone staring after her.

"What the hell was that?" Kai asked as he looked over at Tommy, knowing that if anyone would know, it would be him.

"I don't know," Tommy shook his head, worry evident in his eyes. "She's been acting weird ever since we got here."

Karone bit her lip, "Do you think it has anything to do with two years ago?"

"I honestly don't know," Tommy ran a hand through his hair.

"That doesn't make sense!" James protested, "I mean, why now? If this is an effect of that, then why is it happening now? Why not sometime before?"

"What are you talking about?" Lianbow frowned as he looked at Tommy.

"We told you that we had fought Nerian two years ago," Billy said, "but what we didn't tell you, was that during the battle, Kimberly sacrificed herself to kill him."

"Are you saying she died?" Maddie asked, startling them as they hadn't realized they had returned.

"Yeah," Carter nodded, his eyes filling with past sadness, "that dome that she had us in the day she talked to Nick?" when they nodded, he continued, "she had created one over us that day. We couldn't do anything. We were basically helpless."

"We had to watch as she fought him herself and then she gave her life to kill him," Kira finished. "She was gone for a year, but then, last year, she came back."

"What do you mean?" Udonna asked.

"Apparently she was in some kind of limbo," Aisha said, "there, she met Zedd, Zordon and Aurora; that's when they told her what was going to happen and then, they sent her back."

"Who's Aurora?" Nick asked even as he turned to look in the direction he was sure Kim had gone.

It was Udonna who answered, "She was the Goddess that gave the very first Ninjetti their powers."

"So you think that Kimberly dying and then coming back is messing with her mind?" Daggeron asked.

"What other explanation is there?" TJ asked. "Mr. Oliver is right; why now? Why is it affecting her now? Why not before or just after she came back?"

After a long silence, Tommy spoke up, "Because this is the first time since she came back that Kim is using her powers." He looked at the others, "the first time she started being weird was the first day of training. It was after we used our powers. When we were walking back, she grabbed her head in pain and said that she felt strange. When I asked her, she said she must've overdone it."

"And she's been using her powers constantly since then," Krista finished with a deep sigh. If that was the case, then it did explain a lot; like Kimberly's attitude over the last few days.

The spirited and bubbly girl had sometimes been downright mean and would walk away from training or refuse to train with someone. They had all brushed it off, but at least now they had an explanation for it.

"Yeah," Tommy nodded.

"I hope it's nothing more serious," Shane said, and the others agreed with him.

The moment the words left his mouth though, Tommy felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. He had a really bad feeling and somehow he knew it had to do with Kim. "I think I'll go check on her."

"Sounds like a good idea sweetie," Melissa smiled over at him.

Tommy smiled back before leaving the room. When he got to the spaceship, he headed directly to his and Kim's room. He stepped inside and stopped when he saw her asleep on the bed.

Unbidden, a smile graced his lips and he walked slowly to the bed and sat down, being careful not to disturb her. Reaching out, he gently ran his hand through her hair and let out a sigh, "What is going on with you Beautiful? Why have you been acting out? Is it because of our powers, or because you died?"

He shifted his gaze to the ceiling and ran his hand over his face. After a few seconds, he looked back at Kim; if she had been awake, she would've seen the pain and fear in his eyes. "I can't lose you Kim…not again."

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I love you Beautiful."

With that, he got up and left the room, not seeing the pink glow that surrounded Kim, nor the way it briefly flashed to red.

~…~

The next day, things were the same; the rangers all participated in the training sessions while Melissa and James spoke with Udonna, Lianbow, Daggeron and Rita in between. All six adults were just as concerned about Kimberly as the rangers were, but neither of them had any idea what to do.

Well…one did, but she wasn't saying anything.

"I still cannot believe she had died," Daggeron remarked as he watched Kimberly spar against Maddie. He watched as the pink ranger stop and explained something before she continued the fight.

"We were there and we still can't believe it," James said, "It was surreal, and something I have no wish to ever experience ever again."

"Same here," Melissa agreed. "We barely got through it last time; if it happened again, I'm not sure we'd survive…especially Tommy."

Their eyes turned back to Kim, worry filling each of them for the petite girl that was so obviously the heart of the entire ranger teams.

~…~

Kimberly knew everyone was worried and she brushed it off, but deep down, she was worried too. She had tried to talk to Shalimar, but the Crane was just as confused as her. She couldn't understand why she had started snapping and saying really spiteful things to the others these last couple of days. It scared her because it felt like when Maligore had taken control of her back in high school, but she pushed that thought away.

'_It's not him. Firebird is gone, joined together with Shal and Maligore is gone as well. So why am I feeling this way? Is it really because of my powers?'_

Shaking her head, Kim refocused on Maddie. "You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks," Maddie panted out as she brushed her hair off her face. "I never knew this was so tiring. No wonder you guys are in such good shapes if you do this every day."

Kim laughed as she blocked a move from the girl and spun behind her, "Not every day. Just now and then. We started in high school when we became rangers and then we just kinda continued throughout. I used to do it a lot when I was in Florida and when I had moved to Paris."

"You lived in Paris?" Maddie asked as she ducked Kim's foot and threw a punch at her. She grunted when Kim brought up her arm to block her and twisted away before falling into the now familiar stance.

"Yeah," Kim grinned, "My parents moved there when I was fifteen, and that's where I went for college. I didn't move back until back in '04, when Conner and the others had destroyed their villain."

"Sounds like fun," Maddie smiled, "I've always wanted to go to Paris."

"How about this?" Kim suggested as she spun Maddie away from her before attacking, "when you graduate from school, before you go off to college, I'll take you Paris."

Maddie paused in shock and Kim used the opportunity to knock her to the ground.

"Always pay attention," Kim grinned as she held out a hand for Maddie to hold and then helped her to her feet.

"Sorry," Maddie grimaced slightly, "but you'd do that?"

"Sure," Kim shrugged with a grin, "Why not?"

"Thanks," Maddie smiled, unable to believe her luck.

"You're welcome," Kim laughed, "Now, I'm going to teach you how to use another weapon."

"If it's the sword," Maddie blanched, "then I don't think I want to do that…unless you'd like to be stabbed accidentally or something."

Kim laughed, "You really need to have more confidence in yourself. You'll be fine Maddie."

"If you think so," Maddie bit her lip, "Then, ok, I'm willing to try."

"Good," Kim smiled, "Come on. Let's go a little further from them."

The two girls walked away from the group until they were just a short distance away.

"Alright, here is good," Kim nodded and then she turned back to the blue ranger. She held out her hand and summoned her sword.

Maddie's eyes went wide with awe and delight as she stared at the sword. "That is very beautiful."

"Thank you," Kim grinned. She walked over to the girl and placed the sword in her hands.

"Kim, are you absolutely sure about this?" Maddie asked again.

"Yes!" Kim giggled, "I'm sure. Now, you have to hold it like this…"

Kim showed her the proper way to hold the sword and then, she eased into simple moves and techniques to help her move with the sword and to get more comfortable using it.

"The trick to using a sword," Kim explained, "is to not think of it as a separate weapon, but to think of it as an extra part of you. The sword moves with you, but if you're always conscious about it being a weapon, you'll never fully immerse yourself into moving more fluidly with it."

"Ok," Maddie nodded as her brows furrowed in concentration. She did as Kim told her and slowly but surely, she found herself getting the hang of it. Sure they'd use their blasters in fight and would turn them into swords, but that was nothing compared to this.

This was a real sword, and it was a lot harder to handle than what she was normally used to, but she was determined to do it. Kim had faith in her, as did the others, and she wouldn't let that be a waste.

Kim smiled as she watched Maddie use the sword. She knew the girl had potential, but was too shy and afraid to fully let go. Shaking her head, she summoned her bow and arrow. She looked around before focusing her gaze on a tree a good distance away.

Positioning her bow, she let loose the arrow, grinning when it hit its mark. For next few minutes, she hit several different targets, increasing the distance between her and the target every time.

After a good amount of time had passed, she dismissed her bow and arrow and went back to Maddie, taking her sword from her and sending the girl to spar with someone else.

She was turning around, eyes moving over the others trying to spot someone to spar with when Hunter walked up to her.

"Wanna spar?" the crimson ranger grinned.

"Sure," Kim grinned in reply.

Within seconds, the two were sparring, moving around and around, being careful not to get too close to any of the others.

Everyone was really into the sparring and although the Mystic team found themselves on the ground a few times, they didn't let it bother them; this was training and they absorbed as much knowledge as they could.

Everyone, including James, Melissa and Rita, were enjoying themselves, but twenty minutes later, everything changed.

The alarms went off and all sparring stopped as everyone turned to look at each other.

Udonna hurried inside, and the rangers exchanged another set of looks before they followed her.

"What is it?" Tori asked as they all gathered, as much as they could, around the Xenotome.

Without saying anything, Udonna allowed them to see.

Gasps of shock echoed throughout the past teams.

"Fuck me!" Rocky cursed.

"Tell me I'm not seeing that," Cassie pleaded, her eyes still on the scene.

"You are," Alyssa said, "because I am too."

"We have to go," Max looked at all the rangers, "we can't allow them to destroy the place."

"But how do we do it?" Mike asked as he started pacing. "We can't fight against them. They know our moves, our strengths and our weaknesses."

"So we don't," Conner said drawing everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Cam asked.

"Mike's right," Conner explained, "we can't fight our villains because we have before, so, why not fight somebody else's villains?"

"What exactly are you getting at?" Cole asked, raising an eyebrow at the red Dino ranger.

"I think I get it," Tori grinned. She turned to the others, "We fought against Lothor, and so did the Dino rangers, so he knows what we can do and what we can't do. So now, instead of us, or the Dino rangers fighting Lothor, another team does it."

The rangers looked at each and exchanged grins.

"So you're going to fight them," Vida spoke up, "but you're going to fight each other's past villains?"

"Yep," Zack nodded, "It's perfect. And since we have footage from every team, we know the moves of the villains, so we'll have the advantage over them."

"Let's do this," Andros stood up.

"Ready?" Jason called out.

"Ready!" all the rangers responded.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason shouted.

All the calls rang out as each team morphed into their ranger forms.

"DECA?" Andros raised his wrist to his mouth.

"_Yes Andros?" the ship replied._

"Lock on and teleport us downtown."

"_Locking on," DECA replied, "Teleporting…now."_

"Go get 'em guys," Hayley smiled as they teleported out.

~…~

The rangers appeared downtown, right in the midst of the destruction that was going on.

"HEY!" Cole shouted, drawing the attention of the villains.

"If it isn't the pesky rangers," Divatox sneered.

"And if it isn't Divabitch!" Kim snapped.

"You'll pay for that!" Divatox growled.

That was the cue.

The villains started attacking, forcing the rangers to defend themselves.

Soon, everyone was spread out, and just like they had talked about, no one was fighting their own past villains.

The Mystic team couldn't help but to be glad for the training sessions when they had to learn to fight around the others using their powers as the Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder and the Ninjetti used their powers.

Carter was fighting with Eric when he saw a blue and gold, winged monkey with a sword, try to make his way over to where Jason and Tommy were.

He intercepted him.

"My fight isn't with you red ranger," the monkey growled.

"Well that's just too damn bad," Carter retorted as he pulled out his weapon, "'cause we're fighting."

He attacked, forcing the monkey to defend himself.

A blow caught him in his side and he fell to the ground before rolling away, coming back to his feet some distance away.

Joey came over to him, turning his sword so that the point was facing the monkey, "I thought they killed you Goldar!"

"You puny rangers can't kill me!" Goldar roared, "I'll kill you, and then, the white ranger is mine."

"Bring it on!" Joey shouted as he fell into a fighting stance, Carter doing the same next to him.'

The fight was tough as the villains seemed even harder to beat than before, but the rangers didn't give an inch. They gave just as much as they got.

When, after what seemed like forever, Carter and Joey finally destroyed Goldar, they moved to where Alyssa, Conner, Kendrix and Leo were to help them with their own villain, Rito Repulsa.

Kim was fighting alongside Trini, the two of them fighting Archerina, but the two got separated and she found herself facing Divatox.

"I have a score to settle with you Pink ranger!" Divatox snarled.

"Bring it on!" Kim grinned beneath her helmet. She was just as antsy to finish their fight from years ago.

The two women attacked and sparks flew as their swords collided together.

"This time pink ranger," Divatox hissed, "you won't win!"

"Wanna bet?" Kim taunted as she shoved the pirate back before attacking.

The woman could barely block the barrage of attacks Kim was unleashing and was hard-pressed to even get a chance to retaliate.

As Kim fought Divatox, she could feel her powers rolling through, thrumming to be released. She wanted to, but something stopped her. She had the sense that if she tapped into her full powers, even just a little, something bad would happen, something that she would be in the centre of, so she didn't; she kept her powers locked away, mentally telling Shalimar sorry for not letting her out.

But the crane didn't protest as she too could feel that dark sense of foreboding in the air, and that just made Kimberly all the more worried as well as determined not to use her powers until she was absolutely sure what was wrong with her.

Little did she know that her actions would all be for nothing.

Divatox was so focused on fighting Kim, or rather, defending herself, that she didn't see the ranger coming up behind her, so the blow to her back caught her off guard and had her stumbling to the ground. She rolled over, and growled when she saw the yellow Ninjetti.

"Couldn't let you have all the fun," Aisha quipped as she stood next to her best friend and spirit sister.

Kim giggled, "So? Together?"

"Together," Aisha nodded.

Divatox didn't stand a chance.

The two of the coordinated their attacks so perfectly that Divatox couldn't tell where they were coming from.

The last combined attack from the two Ninjetti hit Divatox dead on, and the she-villain exploded.

"And she's out of here!" Aisha laughed.

Kim shook her head and looked around, noticing the joined efforts of all the rangers were diminishing the villains slowly. She saw Trini, Maya and Dana fighting against Archerina. Spotting an opening, she summoned her bow and arrow.

Lining up the shot, she took it, at the same time yelling out to her teammates. "Tri, DUCK!"

At Kim's call, Trini moved out of the way, as did Maya and Dana and they watched as the arrow pierced Archerina's neck, destroying the woman in the process.

"Thanks Kim!" Maya called out and then moved on to help Tori and Taylor fight against Elsa.

Shane, Hunter and Kai had their hands full with Messogog.

"Damnit!" Hunter cursed as he rolled to his feet after being thrown to the ground.

"You ok?" Kai called out, firing his blaster at the dinosaur monster.

"I'm fine," Hunter replied, rejoining the two in the fight, "bastard's stronger than I thought."

"Come on," Shane grunted out as he dodged a blow from Messogog.

"You fools!" the monster hissed, "you can't fight me! You won't win!"

"Wanna bet?" Hunter growled out, "THUNDER STRIKE!"

Dark storm clouds appeared and before Messogog could do anything, he was hit by various bolts of lightning.

Kai used the opportunity to fire at him.

Messogog growled as he was thrown to the ground. Shaking with rage, he stood up, "I will destroy you for that!"

Shane moved to stand next to Hunter, "Hey Hunter?"

"Yeah?" Hunter looked at his friend and teammate.

"Try that move again," Shane panted out, an idea forming.

Hunter stared at him for a few seconds before nodding, "Got it. THUNDER STRIKE!"

"TORNADO STORM!" Shane yelled out at the same time.

The two powers combined and headed towards Messogog, colliding with the monster before he could even react. The explosion rocked the ground and when the dust cleared, Messogog was no more.

"Nice!" Kai grinned at the two.

The three of them looked around and saw that they were winning; slowly but surely, the villains were all being destroyed. Of course, their side wasn't without injuries or anything, despite their boost in power, but the others didn't let anything stop them.

They shared a look before rushing off to join the others.

The rangers were sticking to the plan of not fighting the villains they knew and had fought before.

As they fought, they made sure that they never got too close to each other and kept moving around so that they were still spread out. As it was, no one noticed that Zeltrax had slowly moved away from the rangers he was fighting against to get closer Tommy. He had a score to settle with White Ninjetti Ranger, and with everyone else occupied, he saw his chance to do so.

Rolling his wrists, the sunlight gleamed off his sword as he got closer and closer to his target. Even as he made his way to Tommy, he couldn't help but to chuckle darkly at the fact that no one had taken notice of his movements.

He was wrong.

Tommy was occupied with helping out some of the younger rangers, so never knew that anyone was coming up behind him. But Kim did.

Kim was looking around, even as she fought against Astronema with Kira, Maddie, Zack and Danny. She was trying to fight Tommy because something was telling her that he was in danger. She wanted to use Shalimar to get to Brennan, but she couldn't risk using her animal until she found out what was wrong with her powers.

Finally, she saw him, and she saw Zeltrax slowly making his way towards the oblivious White Ninjetti with his sword raised high.

'_No!' _Kim took off running, thankful that the duo was not that far from where she was, and ran into Zeltrax, stopping the attack. She groaned when she collided with him as it felt like she was hitting a brick wall.

"Kimberly!" Trini yelled out as she watched her best friend practically try and tackle Zeltrax like she was a football player. They both went down, with Zeltrax surprisingly still having a grip on his sword. She was worried that Kim would get sliced, but was too far away to do anything. That didn't stop her though as she immediately took off for the two.

At Trini's shout, Tommy spun around and saw Kim and Zeltrax tangled. All he saw was his girlfriend under the villain and from the way she was hunched, he knew she was hurt. Beneath his helmet, his eyes flashed green and a roar of primal rage ripped from his throat, drawing the attention of everyone else.

Kim struggled to get away from Zeltrax and moaned at the pain in her stomach. She was sure a rib was either bruised or broken. But that wasn't her problem; Zeltrax still had his sword and he was waving it in the air. She had to move before he skewered her. She had barely started when she heard the yell from Tommy and she froze for a split second. She knew that yell; Dragon wanted out.

'_This is not good.' _She had to get from under Zeltrax to let Tommy know she was ok. But that was easier said than done. He had a grip on her arm and didn't seem like he planned on letting go any time soon.

Tommy couldn't think past his rage. Kim was hurt and he had to get to her. Without conscious thought, he disappeared and reappeared next to the two and pulled Zeltrax off of Kim, the force sending him through the air. When he landed, the thud echoed loudly.

"Holy shit!" Xander breathed out as he stared from Tommy to Zeltrax and back.

The White Ranger's suit suddenly started flashing between green and white.

Seeing everyone frozen, Conner cursed. Yes he was worried about Kim and Dr. O, but didn't everyone realize they were in the middle of a battle? "Guys…Dr. O can handle this and Kim can handle Dr. O. We need to get rid of the rest of these villains…NOW!"

Conner's words snapped everyone out of their frozen state and the fighting commenced.

Across the street, Tommy stood seething, the green colour becoming more dominant.

Kim struggled to her feet and grabbed his arm, leaning into him a little. "I'm fine Handsome. Calm down. Dragon can't get out; you know the damage he'll do if that happens."

Inside, Tommy struggled to send the beast back to its slumbering state. Dragon wanted revenge. He wanted the same thing, but he knew Kim was right. If Dragon got out, the only person recognizable to him would be Kimberly; everyone else would be threats.

But Dragon had the bloodlust now, and he wouldn't be forced back that easily.

Sensing this, Kim took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and against her previous promise, she tapped into her powers. Soon, a pink glow surrounded her, and it covered her and Tommy, forming a protective barrier against any attacks from the other villains.

She focused on the bond between her and Tommy and saw him and Brennan struggling to send Dragon back to sleep.

"_**It's ok," **_she sent to the animal, _**"I'm ok. You have to go back. I'm not in any danger." **_Pushing some of her powers towards the beast, she soothed it, helping Tommy sending him back to sleep. Sending a tendril of love towards Tommy and Brennan, she went back to her mind.

Tommy shuddered and opened his eyes to look down at Kim through the helmet. "Thanks Beautiful."

"Anytime Handsome," Kim grinned as she dissolved the barrier, "now, let's get rid of these villains one last time."

"You got it," Tommy grinned but lost it and pushed Kim out of the way, out of the blast that Zeltrax had sent towards them.

"You're mine White Ranger," Zeltrax growled as he stalked forward.

"Let's finish this Zeltrax," Tommy fell into his stance, "I beat you before, I can do it again."

~…~

"Crisis averted," Hayley almost fell back in her seat from relief. While she hadn't been there personally to see when Tommy had been Dragon, she had heard the stories from the others and knew that if his alter had come out, it would've been really bad.

"You said it," Melissa nodded in agreement, "they already have enough trouble on their hands, they did not need him to add more."

~…~

Kim fell to the ground and cried out softly when she felt her ribs shift.

"You ok Kim?" Trini asked as she fell to her knees next to her sister.

"I think my ribs are really bruised," Kim revealed as she allowed Trini to help her to feet. "But other than that, I'm good."

"Maybe you should go back to base," Trini suggested, though she knew Kim wouldn't do that.

"Tri I'm fine," Kim shook her head, "We need to get rid of the rest of those clowns and _then _I'll rest, ok?"

"Promise?" Trini prodded.

"I promise," Kim nodded, "now come on."

The two girls jumped back into the fight, bypassing Tommy and Zeltrax.

Kim ended up with Tori, Kelsey and Maddie fighting against Elsa.

"You stupid rangers are no match for me!" Elsa taunted as she kicked Kelsey away and fired a blast at Tori.

"Wanna bet?" Maddie glared at the woman. She knelt on the ground, placing her palms flat and concentrated.

Tori fell next to her, "Water attack?"

"You got it," Maddie turned her head to look at the blue Ninja ranger.

The two girls combined their powers and water erupted from the ground and headed straight for Elsa, knocking her off her feet to land a short distance away.

Kim brought her hands together in front of her, holding them a couple of inches apart. "Fireball."

A ball for fire formed in between her hands, growing until it was the size of a beach ball. She looked up at Elsa, "Say goodnight Elsa."

"Goodnight Elsa," Tori, Kelsey and Maddie chorused.

Kim grinned as she threw the fireball at Elsa, watching with satisfaction was the woman exploded.

"Nice going Kim!" Maddie and Tori high-fived.

Kim shook her head at the girls' antics, but froze seconds later when the implications of what she just did hit her. She had used her powers; and not once, but twice.

'_Oh God…oh no…no…no…no…What did I do?' _Kim started shaking. She had tried so hard not to tap into her powers, but she had. She was afraid of what would happen. She turned towards Tommy, but before she could even say anything, she felt it; that pressure in her head. This time, it was worse than before. Her hands flew to her head and a low moan escaped her throat.

"Kimberly?" Kelsey turned to her friend in concern.

"Are you ok?" Maddie stepped closer.

"S-something's w-wrong," Kim moaned out as she fell to her knees.

"Kimberly!" Tori's panicked shout drew the others attention and some of the rangers broke off from the fights to form a barrier around the four girls, while checking on Kim.

"Is she ok?" Andros asked as he held his blaster in front of him while looking down at Kim.

"I don't know," Tori shook her head.

"Kim?" Adam called as he knelt next to Kim.

"Adam," Kim's eyes opened to slits, "everything hurts." With that, she fainted dead away in his arms.

"Kim!" Adam held her and watched with horrified eyes as pink lights swirled around her body, causing her to de-morph. He was scared because the last time he saw something like that, was when Zedd had stolen Kim's power coin.

"She's burning up," Kat said as she held hand to Kim's forehead. "Kim, can you hear me?"

There was no response. Kim's head lolled from side to side in Adam's arm while the pink colour kept swirling.

Andros brought his communicator to his mouth, "DECA, I need you to teleport Kimberly back to base…now!"

"_Teleporting…now," DECA responded._

A pink beam of light surrounded Kim before she disappeared.

"She's going to be ok, right?" Maddie questioned.

"I hope so," Adam responded as he got to his feet. "Come on. Let's get rid of the last of these guys so we can check on her."

"Right!" the rangers said as one before doing as he said, though their thoughts were with Kim.

~…~

Kim appeared in Rootcore, and James immediately moved her to the medical cot and then moved out of the way for his wife to work on the girl.

"Is she ok?" Hayley asked, briefly removing her eyes from the screen to look at Kim.

Back at Rootcore, Melissa sighed as she took the wet cloth from Claire and wiped Kim's forehead.

"Is she going to be ok?" Claire asked as she looked on in concern.

"I hope so," Melissa replied, "her powers have been acting up these last few days, and now with this, I'm not sure."

Kim's head rolled from side to side as she started moaning.

"Kimberly?" Melissa called softly as she looked at the girl.

Kim didn't reply. She moaned even harder and soon enough, she started twisting and turning on the cot.

~…~

Down in the Underworld, things were about to become worst for the rangers. As each villain was destroyed, their powers went directly into the Master. The room started shaking and a crack appeared over the Master's pit; it split in both directions and then, it broke apart, creating a deep chasm. The walls shook and the roof crumbled as the Master slowly made his way out of his prison.

~…~

The rangers had been hit with renewed strength after Kim left. Worry and anger pushed Tommy to destroy Zeltrax and he watched as the others fought off the last two villains.

"Let's go," Eric said, "I'm worried about Kim."

Everyone agreed and they were just about to teleport, when the ground shook, making them stumble.

"What the hell?" Trini cursed as she reached out to hold on to Justin. "You ok?"

"I'm fine," Justin nodded as he held tight to her.

"What the hell is going on?" Joey asked. He looked around, trying to find the source of the sudden earthquake, as did the others.

"Look!" Leo pointed in the distance and they all turned to look, only to freeze in shock.

A huge chasm had opened up and they watched as something climbed out slowly. Smoke billowed around the figure, obscuring their view. Minutes later, the rumbling stopped and the ground settled again.

The rangers straightened up and fell into a battle stance.

The smoke cleared away and the original rangers took a step back in shock.

"No fucking way!" Rocky swore. His heart started pounding with fear.

"Is that?" Kat couldn't even finish her question, her blue eyes wide with disbelief.

"Maligore," Tanya swallowed._'This cannot be happening.'_

The group of rangers stared at the monster in disbelief, but the original rangers, this felt like their worst nightmare. They had thought he had been gone for good.

"Didn't you kill him?" Carlos whispered to Billy.

"No," Billy answered. His voice was shaking from fear, but he didn't care, "we only managed to reseal him. He had been too powerful because he had already used some of Kimberly's power to regenerate."

At his words, Adam froze; immediately, past conversations flew back through his mind and when the realization came, he staggered back.

"Adam?" Tanya turned to her husband, "Adam what's wrong?"

Panting heavily, Adam ignored her and turned to the other Ninjetti and saw the realization in their faces as well.

"The child is very powerful," Aisha repeated softly, tears running down her cheeks, "if he gets his child back, all hope is lost."

"What are you talking about?" Max asked, looking at the black Ninjetti in confusion.

"No," Tommy whispered as he shook his head in denial, "It can't be…it just can't."

"What?" Joey asked, confused as well, and he was starting to get scared and worried.

"I see you've figured it out," Maligore grinned, dark satisfaction rolling through him at the fear in their eyes on their faces.

"You're not going to get Nick!" Vida shouted and the others backed her up.

"Foolish girl," Maligore taunted, "I was never after him."

"What?" Joel asked. He was completely shocked, as were the others. They had been sure it was Nick the man was after, but if it wasn't Nick, then who was it?

"The Master's child isn't Nick," Billy answered, "It's—

"Kimberly," Tommy finished, his eyes filled with fear and worry for his girlfriend.

Before anyone could say anything to that statement, a scream tore through the minds of the Ninjetti, and Conner, and they fell to their knees, holding their heads in their hands.

_Mind View_

_The volcano didn't just erupt, it exploded and Shalimar screeched in pain as she glowed pink and then red before collapsing to the ground. She lifted her head, barely, and keened when she saw Firebird standing over her. But this was a different Firebird; this Firebird was a deeper, darker, shade of blood red, even darker than when Maligore had first gained control of her. _

_Shalimar moaned out as she tried to climb to her feet._

_Firebird screeched angrily and pressed a foot on Shalimar's back, keeping her on the ground. Firebird's eyes glowed red and she started flapping her wings, creating a wind. The wind surrounded Shalimar and Firebird opened her beak, but instead of a screech, a bolt of red light emerged and hit Shalimar. _

_After a few seconds, the red light faded away. Firebird stopped flapping her wings and when the wind died down, Shalimar was enclosed in a red dome, very similar to the one Kim had placed the others in, but what had the bird scared was the sight in front of her. Kimberly was hovering mid-air, unconscious, and she was trapped in a red glass case._

_Screeching once more, this time in victory, Firebird took off in the air._

"Oh God," Aisha cried out. Tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks, "Kimberly."

~…~

Back at Rootcore, Melissa, James, Claire and Hayley jumped back in shock when Kim became surrounded by flames.

"Dear God!" Melissa shouted to her husband as she started for Kimberly, but found that every time she moved close, the flames became higher. "I can't get close!"

"He's not letting you," Hayley whispered. Her heart ached for what they were about to go through, especially Tommy and the others.

The flames went very bright for a split second before it disappeared. And so did Kimberly.

"Where'd she go?" Claire asked as she looked around.

"One guess," James sighed.

~…~

The rangers jumped when they saw the flames between them and Maligore. The flames died down and Kimberly stood there.

"Kimberly," Wes cried out as he took a step towards the pink Ninjetti.

"Don't," Conner warned. He struggled to his feet. His head and his heart felt like it was being torn apart. The last time he had felt like this was when they had battled Nerian and Kim had sacrificed herself.

"What? Why?" Wes demanded, unable to understand or believe that the red ranger was stopping them from going after her.

Maligore let out a dark chuckle, one that fiercely reminded the original rangers of when Tommy was evil. He turned to Kim and held out a hand, "My child…come."

Cries of "Kimberly!" and "Don't!" rang out from the rangers as they stared in disbelief as Kim started towards Maligore.

With the exception of the Ninjetti and Conner, they all moved to go after her.

"No!" Conner and the Ninjetti said as one, trying to stop them because they knew it was too late. Maligore had her.

They watched as Kim took Maligore's hand and moved to stand by his side, her back towards them.

"WHY?!" Jason demanded as he turned his head to glare at them, "That's my baby sister. Why did you stop us?"

"We had to," Billy said, his hand clutching his chest above his heart. Adrian was letting out a keening wail because he knew his sister was in serious danger.

"Why?" Zack demanded.

"Because," Tommy closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were filled with pain, "That's not Kimberly…not anymore."

"What?" Cam asked as he, and the others stared at Kim.

Kim slowly turned around and the rangers couldn't stop the shocked noises from escaping.

"Oh my God," Tori breathed out.

Kim smiled, but it was dark and menacing and her eyes were glowing red.

"**Hello rangers. Guess who's back?" **Firebird chuckled.

* * *

**A/N 2: **uh oh…she's back. The rangers will have their work cut out for them, especially now that they're dealing with an evil Kimberly. But they can handle it…right? I really hope you guys liked it. Now that you've read, review so I can know what you thought...

Kila


	5. Author's Note

Hey guys;

I know you were expecting a new chapter, but that's not the case. My grandmother passed away last weekend and this week, my family has just been dealing with that, so I haven't worked on any of my stories at all; no writing, nothing I haven't even checked out my girl F4C's new chapter as yet. I just didn't feel like writing much, you know?

And, we're flying back to our home island (St. Kitts—you can Google/Bing it) this weekend and I'm going to be gone almost two weeks, so the new chapter, I'm afraid you guys won't get it until _Friday 2__nd__ November, '12..._I hope...

I really am so sorry. I was looking forward to finishing up the chapter and posting it and seeing the reviews, but that'll have to wait.

Please, be patient.

_Kila _


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